Secrets and Hormones
by mayleebaby28
Summary: The JN gang are juniors in high school, and they have a big secret. If it gets out, who knows what will happen.
1. Chapter 1

Jimmy was running through the nearly empty halls. He couldn't be late for Mrs. Marsh's class again or he'd get detention. And detention was not something he wanted.

He sprinted through the door as the bell rang and Mrs. Marsh was standing by the chalk board glaring at him.

"Thank you for joining us, Mr. Neutron. Take your seat, please." She said. Her hands were poised on her hips. She was a short, pudgy woman who was well into her 70s. She always said she wouldn't retire because she loved working with kids, but Jimmy thought her real reason was because she loves to make him miserable.

"Yes, ma'am." Jimmy sighed and took his front row seat between Sheen and Cindy. In the seat behind Cindy, Libby was gently bobbing her head; Jimmy could see the wireless ear buds he gave her for her last birthday shining in her ears.

Sheen was doodling on his notebook page. Jimmy couldn't see what he had drawn, but he was sure it had something to do with Ultra Lord. Carl was behind Sheen, and he was reading a book about llamas.

Cindy was very attentive. Her hair was pulled back into a wispy pony-tail on the back of her head and some strands fell down in her face, which she continually tucked behind her ears. Her pencil was scribbling the notes on the board in her note book.

"Alright class, who can tell me what this picture is?" Mrs. Marsh pulled down the screen at the front of the classroom and hit a button on a tiny black remote. Jimmy could hear the projector whir to life above of him. A picture of armies marching behind a dark figure with his back to the camera was displayed.

Jimmy and Cindy raised their hands immediately while the rest of the class sat mute.

"Anyone besides Mr. Neutron and Ms. Vortex?" Mrs. Marsh sighed. After a few moments of silence, no one else spoke up.

"Fine, Ms. Vortex?" She lazily pointed to Cindy who smirked slightly with triumph.

"That's Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army." She said, gently folding her hands back on her desk.

"Correct. Because today, we'll be learning about World War Two." Mrs. Marsh hit another button and the powerpoint moved to the next slide.

Jimmy paid minimal attention, as did Cindy; though she tried to at least look interested, unlike Jimmy. He couldn't be bothered to learn about WWII again.

Jimmy was struggling to stay awake when he heard someone cough around him. He looked over at Cindy and saw her notebook pushed towards the end of her desk. He waited until Mrs. Marsh turned around to write something on the board before he leaned over to read it.

Why so late?

Jimmy glanced back at Mrs. Marsh before scribbling his own response on his notebook page.

Overslept. I was up late working.

Cindy rolled her eyes and smiled.

You need better time management skills

Jimmy scowled. He had been working on something for her birthday coming up soon, but he would make her feel guilty later.

I need a device that allows me to not sleep

Cindy giggled quietly. She was in the middle of writing something else and Jimmy was watching her intently when someone cleared their throat. The pair looked up to see Mrs. Marsh standing between them with her arms crossed.

"Something funny, Ms. Vortex?" Mrs. Marsh asked.

"No, ma'am." She mumbled, eyes downcast.

"Mr. Neutron? Anything you would like to share with the class?"

"No, ma'am." Jimmy echoed.

"Well, then I would appreciate it if you two would not disrupt the class." Mrs. Marsh turned back to her desk and sat down as she continued through the lecture.

The pair dared one more glace at each other before trying to focus on the lecture.

After the first class, the group of five students exited the room and split off in their own smaller groups, saying goodbye until lunch. Cindy and Jimmy were headed to AP Triganometry while the others were split between chemistry and English.

"Thanks for getting me in trouble, Nerdtron." Cindy said, reaching for the combination lock on her locker.

"Me? You're the one who wrote to me in the first place." Jimmy reached for his own locker two down.

"I still blame you." Cindy shuffled some books around in her neurotically neat locker before grabbing her math book.

"Thanks, Vortex." Jimmy dead-panned. He opened his locker and a few papers fell out and fluttered to the floor.

"You need to clean out your locker." Cindy said, picking up one of the pages that landed at her feet.

"It's organized. I know where everything is." Jimmy defended. He took the paper from Cindy's hand and stuffed it back in his locker.

"But it's a mess." Cindy pointed out.

"It's organized chaos." Jimmy repeated.

"Whatever." Cindy shrugged as Jimmy slammed his locker shut.

"So, hey, are you free after school?" Jimmy asked, taking her book from her arms. He had lost a bet with her last week and agreed to carry her stuff to math for two weeks.

"Libby and I were going to go to the mall. Why?" Cindy asked, pausing at the water fountain.

"I was hoping we could work on that science project today." Jimmy shifted the books in his arms.

"Oh. Well, Libby and I could go another day." Cindy shrugged.

"I'm sure Sheen would go with her. He'd follow her around and carry her bags and stuff." Jimmy shrugged as well.

"Maybe. I'll talk to her at lunch." Cindy turned down a hall, headed for the math hallway.

"Cool." Jimmy nodded. They had to run some chemical tests on a few different samples and he had been wanting to get it done.

The pair reached their class and took a seat at the table in the center. Jimmy divided up their belonging, passing the neat and decorated binder and pristine text book to his table-mate and keeping the beat up book full of papers for himself.

"I like your shirt by the way." Jimmy commented. Cindy looked surprised before she checked which shirt she was wearing. When she got dressed this morning, she saw red in her closet and threw it on without thinking about it. It matched the red that her shoes were. Upon further inspection, it was a V-neck shirt with a pale yellow atom on it. She had bought it last time she and Libby went shopping. It reminded her of one of her favorite shows about a bunch of scientists.

She hadn't realized Jimmy had a favorite shirt that was almost identical to it until he commented on it.

"Thanks." She said, looking up at the desk in the front of the room. The bell rang and the teacher bounced out of her seat. She was in her mid-twenties, petite, and was referred to by most male students as 'Mrs. Milf.' She was back this year after she had been on maternity leave up until Christmas break.

"Alright, guys. I didn't get to grade your exams last night because I value sleep, so we're just moving on to the next chapter. Turn to page 284." Mrs. Jean turned around and started drawing a diagram on the chalk board. She went across the board drawing graphs until there were four. "Kim, Cindy, Charles, Jimmy. Problems one through four." She gestured to the board before heading back to her desk.

Cindy waltzed up to the board with her text book in hand. Jimmy watched as she picked up the piece of purple chalk and began to work out the problem beside the blank graph.

"Jimmy. Problem four." Mrs. Jean called to him. A few students giggled as Jimmy scrambled up to the board and flipped through his text book to find the right page. He used the yellow chalk to scribble out the problem, watching Cindy out of the corner of his eye. She was focused on her book, her hand moving effortlessly across the graph. He wished the two other students weren't in between them.

She suddenly turned and gracefully went back to their table. Jimmy could feel her eyes on him. She was smug. She had finished hers first.

Jimmy finished up his problem faster than the other two students and returned to his seat, mirroring Cindy's position with his hands folded on the table in front of him.

"Little off your game, Neutron?" Cindy whispered.

"I had a late start to the day. I could still beat you." Jimmy mumbled back. Cindy smirked as the other students finished their problems and retreated back to their seats.

The rest of class went off without an issue, which Jimmy was thankful for. He didn't have the energy to argue today, though he would never admit it. He just focused on taking his notes during the lecture and copying down the list of homework problems.

"Before I forget, I have an extra-credit opportunity for all of you. It's a problem that you have to solve, but you won't learn how to for another few weeks. Just copy this down, I'll give you a week to attempt it, so if by next Friday, you've figured out how to solve it, you'll get five extra credit points." Mrs. Jean wrote a long inequality problem on the board and the rest of the class wrote it down quickly. The bell rang and the room cleared out faster than Jimmy could blink.

He slowly stuck his notes in his book and waited for Cindy to gather her belongings before they also left the room.

"Think you can solve that problem, Vortex?" Jimmy asked, already working out the inequality in his head.

"Of course I can. That's easy." She gloated.

"I bet you get it wrong." Jimmy reached for his locker.

"Loser carries the other's books?" Cindy asked.

"Let's bump it up a notch. Loser buys the other's lunch for a week." Jimmy extended his hand to Cindy. She glared at it for a moment before taking it.

"You're on, Geek." She said, shaking his hand.

"So you're off to choir, right?" Jimmy asked, turning the knob on his locker.

"Yeah. Solo auditions are today, and Libby is so excited." Cindy laughed as her locker clicked open.

"Are you trying out?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh, no, I'm only there to support Libby."

"You should try out, Cindy. When it's not insulting me, your voice sounds really nice." Jimmy commented.

Cindy blushed at the compliment. They had stopped being so vicious with each other, and they considered each other good friends, but it was still odd to hear him be nice.

"Thanks. I'll think about it." Cindy nodded and smiled. She grabbed her folder full of choir music. "Have fun in gym." She waved as she shut her locker and sashayed down the hall.

Jimmy sighed and shut his locker. They had to run a mile today and he was not ready for that.

He met Sheen and Carl in the gym. Sheen was bouncing in place. He had gotten tall and actually pretty strong. He was great in gym, and Coach Ferguson always begged him to join a team, any team, but Sheen always said no. He wasn't into competition. But he did love gym class. It gave him a chance to burn off some energy.

Carl was not athletic in the slightest, even though he had slimmed down some. He was more into chess and comic books. He was leaning on the wall, breathing in his inhaler.

"Hey, guys." Jimmy greeted.

"Hey, Jim." Carl called back with a wave.

"Hi Jimmy. Pumped for this mile?" Sheen asked, shuffling his feet.

"Not at all. I'll be walking most of it with Carl. Think coach will believe I'm walking with you so that if you need an ambulance, I can call?" Jimmy asked his shorter friend.

"He did last time." Carl shrugged.

"Alright, boys and girls! Go get changed!" Coach Ferguson's voice boomed through the gymnasium, silencing all conversation. The students parted ways to go change.

Jimmy was quick to change. He hated being in the locker room since it continued to smell like stale sweat and socks. He jogged out wearing a t-shirt and shorts and waited.

Sheen came out next, his shoes squeaking on the floor. He was jogging in a circle around Jimmy.

"Sheen, how much sugar did you have today?" Jimmy asked.

"None. I got morning sex." Sheen smirked widely.

"I swear, we need to pry you two apart with a crowbar." Jimmy shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Gives a guy a lot of energy for the day. It's like coffee but better." He started jogging in place.

Carl came waddling over in a pair of sweatpants and a large sweatshirt, despite the fact that it was in the high 60s today.

"Well, you guys might get to go for it again after school. Cindy and I have a project to do, so she was going to see if you could go with Libby to the mall." Jimmy said, watching Sheen shake out his limbs.

"Awesome. Sexy underwear shopping." Sheen stopped moving and grew a goofy smile on his face.

"You two are too horny for your own good." Jimmy laughed.

"You're just jealous I'm getting some. Still chasing Cindy's tail?" Sheen asked, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Never was. She's my friend." Jimmy shrugged, watching Sheen bounce on the balls of his feet.

"Everyone outside! Let's move!" Coach yelled out and scared everyone into running. They jogged to the track and took their places at the starting line. As soon as Coach said 'go,' Sheen was off like a bullet. Jimmy and Carl took up the rear and jogged slowly.

"Does sex really give you that much energy, Jimmy?" Carl asked, already panting.

"After the initial lull of exhaustion, yeah. It releases endorphins in your brain and that makes you happy." Jimmy explained.

"Is that why you're so cranky and tired?" Carl asked.

"Do you want me to leave you back here by yourself?" Jimmy asked. It had always been a sore subject with him. He didn't like to talk about sex like most of his male classmates.

"Sorry. But you know, we could set you up with someone. I'm sure Sheen and I could find a girl." Carl suggested.

"No offense, but any girl you guys pick out is not going to interest me in the slightest." Jimmy retorted.

"Enough jibber-jabber ladies! Let's pick up the pace!" Coach yelled.

"Hey, slow-pokes. What's up back here?" Sheen caught up to them and slowed his pace.

"Jimmy's cranky because he doesn't have sex." Carl explained. He lifted his inhaler to his mouth.

"I bet Libby could find you someone." Sheen suggested, turning around to run backwards.

"I'm fine, guys. I'm tired and cranky because I don't get nearly enough sleep, not because of my sex life." Jimmy explained with finality.

"Whatever you say, dude. Catch ya on the flipside." Sheen waved before turning back around and sprinting off.

"Can't believe he lapped us." Carl said.

"I can. He really needs an outlet. It's no wonder he and Libby are so sexually active. He has so much energy. If he joined a sport, he wouldn't be as hyper." Jimmy mentioned. Carl wheezed in response.

"Wheezer! Neutron! Let's move it!"

"Carl's having a hard time, Coach." Jimmy explained as they passed him. He made a show of patting Carl on the back while he tried to take a deep breath. "You alright, man?"

"I'll be alright, Jim. " Carl wheezed.

"How was chemistry?" Jimmy asked, pulling his hand back to swing beside him.

"Sheen almost lit the building on fire." Carl explained. "The teacher let us light gasoline bubbles with a lighter and Sheen's singed the ceiling."

"And he wonders why I don't let him touch anything in the lab." Jimmy shook his head. "After the last time I had to take him to the hospital, I should have just banned him all together."

"Well he shouldn't have been mixing chemicals."

"He mixed a deadly gas and had to have his whole system cleaned. And I had to send Goddard in to destroy it and I had to stay out of the lab for days." Jimmy said sourly. "I have important things to do in there."

"Less talk, more run!" Coach Ferguson screamed across the track.

* * *

"Hey, Cindy. Where's Libby?" Jimmy asked as he approached the blond girl at lunch. Sheen and Carl flanked him with their lunch trays.

"Sitting with some choir people." Cindy growled.

"Why?" Carl asked, glancing at the table Libby was at. She didn't look very happy.

"She's mad at me."

"What happened?" Jimmy sat down on the bench beside her, straddling it so he could face her better.

"I tried out for the solo like you suggested and I got it." Cindy threw a side glare at him.

"That's great." Jimmy said.

"No, it's not. Libby really wanted it, and now she's mad at me for taking it from her. Thanks for your dumb suggestion, Nerdtron." Cindy angrily got up from her seat and headed for the door.

"I'll go try to get Libby to apologize." Sheen said, heading in his girlfriend's direction.

"Why don't you go with him, Carl? I'm going to go talk to Cindy." Jimmy said, hopping up from his seat with his brown paper bag in hand.

"I'm sure it'll blow over. They can't stay mad for long." Carl said before following after Sheen.

Jimmy had just gotten out of the cafeteria when he saw Cindy sitting on the floor with her tray beside her.

"Go away, Neutron." She glared at him.

"Come on, tell me what happened." Jimmy sat down cross-legged in front of her.

"No. You're the one who got me into this." Cindy angrily stabbed her fork at her salad.

"I didn't force you to do it. I just said you have a nice voice." Jimmy defended himself, reaching into his bag and pulling out a pudding cup.

"I told Libby I was trying out, and she said she thought she told me how badly she wanted this solo. And I told her she did, but I thought I would try out too. And when I got it, Libby stopped talking to me." Cindy explained, taking the pudding cup out of Jimmy's hand. He let it go.

"It'll blow over, Cindy."

"She's really mad at me. But she's being selfish. She can't just expect me to watch her get every solo in choir." Cindy angrily spooned the pudding into her mouth.

"No, you're right. She's being selfish."

"But I did know she really wanted this solo, and I should have respected that and not tried out. She needed my support." Cindy gestured with the spoon in her hand.

"Ok, you're right, you shouldn't have tried out."

"But she gets every solo. She needs to give someone else a turn."

"I don't know whose side you want me to be on." Jimmy watched her eat his snack.

"I want you to tell me Libby's being stupid." Cindy set down the empty pudding cup and reached for the sandwich Jimmy was pulling out of his bag.

"Don't you have a lunch?" He asked.

"Here you go." She forced her foam plate with a slice of cheese pizza on it into his hands.

"This looks awful." Jimmy commented.

"It is." Cindy took a bite of the sandwich.

"You and Libby just need to cool off. I think maybe you were both in the wrong." Jimmy pulled out a can of purple flurp and pulled the tab to open it.

"What should I do?" She asked. She took the can out of Jimmy's hand, took a sip, and then placed it back in his palm.

"Give her a day or two. You two will realize how much you love each other and apologize to each other." Jimmy explained as he took a bite of pizza. It tasted like hot cardboard.

"The concert is next Friday. Want me to save you and Carl tickets?" Cindy asked.

"Sure. But make sure Libby isn't already saving Carl a ticket." Jimmy nodded. When Cindy and Libby fought, Sheen and Jimmy took a side and Carl was always in the middle. Jimmy always listened to both sides, but since Libby had Sheen by her side, he didn't want Cindy to feel alone, even if she was wrong.

"Want to go eat at a table?" Cindy asked.

"They're probably all full. Want to start that math homework in the library?" Jimmy asked, setting the half-eaten pizza on her tray.

"Sure." She shrugged and handed him back half of his sandwich.

* * *

"Alright, class, this chemical needs to be moved very slowly. If it moves too fast, it will crystalize and then you won't be able to use it." Mr. Stout wrote a chemical reaction on the board. "I just want you to mix some of these to see what happens. Don't worry, it won't turn to poison."

Jimmy and Cindy sat in the back row with their goggles on and staring at the clear liquids in the test-tubes in front of them. The four were labeled and there was a glass beaker sitting above a Bunsen burner.

"Just mix two at a time and observe what happens."

"Let's start with those two." Jimmy pointed to the furthest right chemical and the one beside it.

"Why?"

"I know what will happen." Jimmy pointed out.

"What if I don't want to use those two?" Cindy reached for the far left one and lifted it.

"Just let me do it, Vortex. It'll be easier." Jimmy reached for a different chemical.

"What? Just because you think you're so smart doesn't mean I'm just going to sit back and have you do all of the work." Cindy gestured with her free hand.

"Be careful." Jimmy reached for the test tube she was holding.

"Don't tell me what to do." Cindy growled. They had finished their math homework and argued for most of lunch about how Jimmy caused her and Libby's feud, and she still wasn't very happy with him. Being lab partners wasn't the best for them right now.

"Would you just listen to me for once, Vortex?" Jimmy asked loudly.

"Get out of my face, Neutron!" Cindy shouted. As she yelled, her test tube tapped the table top, and the bottom broke apart and the chemical spilled onto the table, crystalizing instantly.

"See what you did, Vortex?" Jimmy asked, glaring at her.

"Me? You're the one being an ass!" Cindy glared right back.

"What is going on back here?" Mr. Stout came rushing back to separate the two fuming teenagers.

"It tapped the table and just fell apart, Mr. Stout. I'm sorry." Cindy explained, looking at the now solid chemical stuck to the table.

"I should be mad, but that's really cool looking." He sighed. "Why don't you two just clean up your work station. I'm sure you're both smart enough to know what would happen if you mixed and heated them all."

"Of course." Jimmy smiled smugly at Cindy. They set to work rinsing out the rest of the test tubes and the other equipment while the rest of the class marveled at the colors the clear liquids turned when mixed, reds, blues, purples, and greens. When all four were mixed together in one, the chemical turned back to clear. The students were perplexed.

"Look, maybe I'll just go home after school." Cindy grumbled as she set the test tubes in their holder upside-down to dry.

"No, I'm sorry. We have to finish this project. I apologize for suggesting you compete with Libby." Jimmy sighed as he shut the cold water off.

"It's not all your fault." Cindy sighed.

"She'll come around, Cindy." Jimmy pat her arm.

"Jimmy? Cindy? Could you two go get the janitor?" Mr. Stout asked. The pair looked up to see their teacher with only one shoe on while his other was coated in crystals, as was the floor surrounding it.

"At least I wasn't the only one." Cindy shrugged as they headed out the classroom door.

"The test tubes are weak. Could have happened to anyone." Jimmy shrugged.

"I promise not to break anything in the lab." Cindy mumbled sheepishly.

"I know you won't, Vortex." Jimmy smiled. "You're more careful than that."

* * *

"Could you two not do that on my desk?" Jimmy asked as he trudged into his Spanish class. Libby was sitting on his desk and Sheen was standing over her with his tongue down her throat.

"Sorry, Jimmy." Sheen said once they separated for air.

"So is the traitor going to apologize?" Libby asked angrily as she sat in her seat behind Sheen.

"She asked me not to talk to you about it." Jimmy sighed. Cindy had wanted to wait for Libby to approach her.

"Was she saying stuff about me behind my back?" Libby asked, leaning over the isle.

"I really can't say, Libby." Jimmy repeated. Cindy had made him promise.

At one point in time, stirring up trouble for Cindy would have made him the happiest guy in Retroville. But it wasn't that way anymore. For as much as they argued, he valued her as a friend. He and his friends were close, and since Sheen and Libby started dating and seeing less of their group, it was nice to have someone who gave him a break from Carl. Carl is his best friend, but sometimes it was nice to have an intellectual conversation. Sometimes he just got lonely in the lab. Cindy liked to come over and just watch him work. They had gotten comfortable with each other's company, and usually they didn't talk. She just sat somewhere in the lab watching him work. It was also nice to have company who wouldn't break, injure, or kill anything.

"Well, you can tell her to forget about going to the mall after school. I'm not friends with back-stabbers." Libby crossed her arms and slouched in her seat.

"Buenas dias, Clase." Señora Jarvis marched into the room, her heals clicking on the floor. "Como estas?"

A wave of 'bien's, 'cansado's, and 'what's followed. Jimmy rested his head in his hand as he waited for what he anticipated.

"James? You're up first." Señora Jarvis motioned to the front of the room where the screen was pulled down. Jimmy glanced at it and saw his powerpoint presentation on it. They all had to go and take pictures of family and friends and label them.

He sighed and pushed himself up from his desk. He really needed to get more sleep if he was going to do this.

"Ella es mi madre," He started gesturing to the screen as he rattled off names and labels in his flawless Spanish. He and Sheen were top of the class for Spanish, although Sheen had been speaking it for his whole life.

First was his family, and he motioned to pictures of his mom, dad, and Goddard. Goddard was still running in tip-top shape, even if he had a little rust around his face. Judy Neutron was getting on in years, and Jimmy always noticed the wrinkles she tried desperately to hide with make-up. Her hair was turning gray and no longer had the volume it used to.

Hugh had gone completely gray. He blamed his son who put more stress on his parents than he realized, always going off on crazy adventures. His glasses had turned to bifocals and he walked hunched over. He had long ago sustained a back injury.

Next were pictures of his extended family, though he didn't speak to them much since Baby Eddie tried to kill him. And his grandmother had passed away a few years ago.

Finally he had pictures of his friends, starting with Sheen. They were all pictures of them as kids, then older. Jimmy found when he was putting together the project that he had many more pictures of his friends than anyone else. He ignored Sheen as he whistled at his own picture.

Next was Carl. Carl was still his best friend, and the pictures reminded him of why. They were both such terribly awkward people. In the younger picture, Carl was looking over the railing of the llama cage at the zoo. In the recent picture, he was doing the same thing.

After that was Libby, who Sheen made a growling noise at. Jimmy quickly touched his wrist and shot a small, slightly painful, laser burst at Sheen. Libby had changed so much more than the rest of his friends. She had gone from the music-loving tomboy she used to be to a beautiful woman. She was always dressed well and her hair had gone from her braids to a styled bob. She still loved music, but was much more into fashion than she used to be.

Cindy was last, and he had to admit, she changed very little. Her hair was still short and it fell to around her shoulders, but most of the time she had it up in a pony-tail. She was a tiny person with a more petite frame. Jimmy had been elated when he out-grew her around twelve. Her older picture was taken in her lab. It evolved from the angry little girl in the older photo to a graceful girl who was lounging on his couch; Goddard curled into a ball at her side on the floor. She was flipping through a science magazine, and Jimmy had surprised her from behind with a picture. She was looking up at him with an innocently curious face.

"Gracias, James. Sientante, por favor." Señora Jarves motioned to his desk.

Jimmy schlepped back to his seat and flopped down. He was really exhausted. He was up until four and slept through his alarm at six. He woke up at 7:43, and his first class was at 8:00.

He watched as the rest of the class presented, scowling at Sheen for almost his whole presentation. Sheen used a more recent picture of Jimmy with singed hair and burned clothes. Sheen had almost blown up the lab and Jimmy was glaring at him. That was awful He had just grown his hair back to its normal length. He reached up to pay it down, just to be sure.

Libby was nice enough to just use a group picture from their weekend up north over Christmas break. They were all sitting on a couch at the ski lodge, drinking cocoa and warming up by the fire. He remembered he had to find the red sweater in the picture still. He had no clue what happened to it after that trip. Maybe Sheen accidentally packed it in his suitcase.

"Hey, Sheen, Did you accidentally pack my sweater from that trip?" Jimmy whispered.

"I don't think so. I haven't seen it." Sheen shook his head as Libby took her seat.

"I saw it somewhere recently," She pondered, "maybe Carl has it? He was helping me with my history homework last week."

"You went to Carl for homework help?" Jimmy asked, twisting around. Though he didn't enjoy tutoring his friends, he reveled in the fact that he was the smartest one of their group.

"He's really good at history. And you and Cindy were working on your math homework." Libby shrugged. Jimmy flushed. He probably should have guessed that. Carl was surprisingly good at history. He had a knack for it.

"Right. I'll ask him later." Jimmy turned back around in his seat and came face to face with Señora Jarvis.

"Is it alright if I get back to teaching now, Mr. Neutron?" She asked.

"Si, Señora. Lo siento." He mumbled. He was not catching a break with his teachers today. Sheen and Libby giggled and were silenced when Jimmy shot them a glare.

* * *

"Libby said the mall trip is off." Jimmy slid into his seat in the AP English classroom.

"Good. I don't want to go to the mall with someone that selfish anyways." Cindy crossed her arms.

"How was art?" Jimmy asked, glancing at the paper she was doodling on.

"Carl can't draw a circle to save his life." She sighed, obviously exhausted. "He kept asking me to show him how, and I drew like 15 circles for him before he decided he'd just change his drawing to something more squarely."

"What were you drawing?" Jimmy asked.

"I drew Goddard." She shrugged. He had noticed that when she was lounging about in the lab, she was working on a drawing. It was more recent. She must have been using him for a shape project. Goddard was pretty square.

"Can I see?" Jimmy leaned over. Cindy flipped a few pages back in her sketch book until she got to a work in progress.

"It's not colored yet." She explained. Jimmy smiled at Goddard's picture. She had captured him perfectly.

"It's great. That's really good." Jimmy sat back in his seat.

"Thanks." She took out her copy of 'A Street Car Named Desire' and began to skim over the chapter he knew she read the night before. "I hate Blanche." She stated.

Jimmy smiled. He knew how much Cindy hated weak female characters. She and Libby never saw chick-flicks together because, while Libby would fawn over the male lead and wish for a man to sweep her off her feet like that, Cindy would scoff. She wasn't one to play the damsel. In fact, she usually tagged along with them to see superhero films and action movies. Libby would begrudgingly join, but Cindy was always pumped to see them.

"I finished it last night. It was an awful play all together." Jimmy explained.

"Is that why you were up so late?" Cindy asked, not looking up from her play.

"Among other reasons." Jimmy glanced at her. She seemed engrossed in the play.

"Stop staring at me, Geek." She said quietly.

"Sorry. I'm not awake." He shook his head and looked up toward the front.

"Alright, kiddos, let's go over our reading." Mr. Pear sat down in a seat, backwards. The class was very small, so he usually just straddled a seat to talk to them.

"Blanche is a terrible example of a woman." Cindy blurted out, setting her book down.

"Alright, any other comments?" He glanced around. Nothing. "Continue, Cindy."

"She's a southern harlot who's obviously lusting for her brother-in-law who's an abusive," She looked to be struggling with her words, "jerk-face."

"Jerk-face?" Jimmy asked quietly.

"I can't swear like I want to." Cindy argued.

"And that's why we choose this book to talk about feminism. This is the example of what not to do as a feminist." Mr. Pear explained.

* * *

"Do you need a ride home?" Jimmy asked. He had recently gotten his license and his newest hover-car model was parked in the parking lot.

"Yeah. Libby drove me this morning." Cindy shouldered her bag.

"She'll get over it." Jimmy repeated for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "We can get started right away since I'm driving."

"I don't think I've been in the new hover-car." Cindy pondered.

"You haven't. I just finished it last week. It has the body of a vintage Cadillac."

"Oh, the light blue one that's been sitting in the lab for months." Cindy nodded.

"Yeah, it was killer to finish." Jimmy explained as he slammed his locker shut. The two of them made their way to the front of the school where students were crowded around their circles of friends. Nick waved at them as they passed, as did Betty.

"I hate her." Cindy mumbled.

"Jealous."

"No. She just acts so damn perfect and I can't stand it." Cindy glared at the girl in question. She was in a pink dress that looked perfectly flowy and her hair was pinned back in a curly up-do. Nick was offering her a cigarette, which looked so classy when it was paired with her red lips and polished nails.

"She smokes, that's not perfect." Jimmy pointed out.

"So does Nick. But look at how girls fall all over him." Cindy commented.

"When he does it, it's just gross. I don't know how girls are all over him." Jimmy glared in the direction of the group as well.

"Who's jealous now?" Cindy asked teasingly.

Jimmy didn't say anything as he threw his bag in the back seat of the hover-car.

"Hey, you know I was kidding." Cindy sighed as she got into the car.

"I know. Sorry, I'm just exhausted." Jimmy shook his head as he turned the key.

"Did you want to put this off another day?" Cindy asked, looking over in concern.

"No. I want to do this today. I'll be fine." Jimmy smiled in her direction. "Thanks, though."

"So why did you stop drooling over Betty?" Cindy asked.

"She's not that smart. She used to be, but she's more focused on being pretty now than anything. And she smokes. That's a turn-off for me." Jimmy shrugged. "What about Nick?"

"Oh, I don't know. He's not that smart, and he's kind of dangerous, but he's still damn sexy." Cindy smiled in the side-mirror.

"He's a flunkie who drinks and does drugs." Jimmy was baffled.

"And? He's still got great abs." Cindy smirked. Jimmy knew she was doing this to irritate him.

"You're doing this to irritate me." He glared at her as he slowed to a stop for a stop sign.

"And it's working." Cindy smiled in his face. Jimmy focused on driving the rest of the way. The hover-car was too large to park in the lab, but since it was basically a car, he was able to park it in the street out in front of his house.

"Let's hit the lab. We've got work to do." Jimmy said, looking at his watch.

"Need anything from the house?" Cindy asked as she pulled her bag out of the back seat.

"Nope. Everything I need is in the lab." Jimmy smiled at her as he took the backpack from her hands before she could put it on her shoulder. She smiled back and followed him around the house.

Jimmy reached over and pulled a hair from Cindy's shoulder. He had put her DNA into Vox's system a few months ago when they were working on a large science fair project. It was usually easier since her hair fell out and stuck to her shirt more often.

"Welcome Cindy." Vox chirped.

The teens stepped inside, and no sooner had Cindy shut the door behind her that she felt a hand sliding up the front of her shirt.


	2. Chapter 2

"Goddard, guard mode." Jimmy breathed. Cindy glanced over his shoulder and saw the mechanical dog lift his head and glance at them before he put his head back down. He knew the others were far from the lab.

She felt his lips on her jawline and ear. They had been waiting for this all day.

"You've been teasing me all day." Jimmy growled in her ear.

"Let's head down." Cindy nodded, breathless. Jimmy took her hand and the two of them headed down to the underground part of the lab.

It was a weekly routine that they do this. It had started over a year ago when they were barely 15. They always did homework together, and one day they started kissing a little. Eventually the innocent make-out sessions turned into curious exploring, then into real sex. Cindy wasn't sure who started it, but she knew that it was the best decision she'd made. She remembered the tension between them had gotten too strong, and after the first kiss, they felt worlds better and more comfortable with each other.

They agreed to not tell anyone. It would not only ruin their reputation of hating each other most of the time, but they didn't want the stress of a public relationship. Or of a relationship at all.

Cindy rushed over to the corner of the lab that was a designated living area. There was a fridge, microwave, and sink against one wall, and a pullout couch against the other. Jimmy had put it in years ago because sometimes it was just easier to sleep in the lab when he was there late. It served a dual purpose later.

She flopped down onto it and Jimmy crawled over her, a hungry look in his eyes. He kissed her lustfully and sloppily.

"Take your pants off." Cindy demanded. She tugged at the waist band of his jeans. Jimmy usually wasn't one to argue in these situations, so he wriggled out as best he could without getting up. Cindy did the same, pushing her shorts off of one leg.

"I have been waiting for this for days." Jimmy panted. Cindy reached for the drawer in the side-table. She pulled out a condom and tore it open, throwing the wrapper onto the floor. They weren't even undressed all the way, but she didn't care. When they've had a particularly frustrating day or series of days, they practically couldn't get their pants off fast enough.

She didn't look down as she reached into his boxers and slid it on him. She had done this enough times to know exactly what to do. Jimmy wiggled a little to push his underwear down to reveal his member. He didn't even bother taking Cindy's underwear off. He moved the white fabric aside and looked at her face longingly. She hooked one leg around his waist while the other still rested on the floor. They were hardly on the mattress. Jimmy still had one foot on the floor as well. The other was kneeling on the bed.

"Fuck me already, dammit." She growled. She kissed him once more before he thrust into her with the help of her hand guiding him.

"You're so beautiful, Cin." Jimmy placed a kiss on her neck as he pushed his hands up her shirt and under her bra.

"Faster, Neutron." She panted. Jimmy rolled his eyes. As much as he wanted to go faster, he wanted it to last longer. It wasn't much use resisting her desires. He felt her leg pulling him closer and forcing him to quicken his pace.

"Easy, Cindy." He mumbled against her collar bone. "I'm not going to last very long." He whispered, propping himself up to look at her face.

"I don't care." She breathed. Jimmy smiled at her. She was meeting his thrusts quickly and sporadically.

"Fuck." He breathed as he came. He slowed his pace as he came down from his high and his vision stopped blurring. "Sorry." He sighed. He always hated when he couldn't last long enough for her.

"Just don't stop." Cindy purred. She moved her hands down to her pelvic area and let her fingers push into her undergarments.

"Hey, hey, hey." Jimmy pulled her hand back and held it in his own. "That's what I'm here for." He said.

"Hurry up, Neutron." She demanded. He laughed and kissed her. She was very impatient. He ghosted his fingers over her inner thighs, enjoying how she wiggled beneath him.

He pushed her underwear down her legs so he could reach her easier. He pushed two fingers into her and brought his thumb up to tease her clit.

"Don't, Jimmy, please." She panted. He knew how sensitive her bundle of nerves was. It usually scared her to be touched there.

"Easy, Cin. You're alright." He kissed her forehead softly. Her breath quickened as she squirmed. He left her clit alone for the moment and focused on pushing her g-spot. He knew she liked that better.

She thrust her hips to meet his fingers. He was always fascinated when she started moving. He really didn't do much of the work, and even when he tried, she told him to stop moving against her rhythm.

It turned him on to no end.

He pulled his fingers out of her and she whimpered, then turned to him and her eyes flared.

"What the hell?" She shouted.

"Calm down." He rolled his eyes at her. "Let's do this right." He helped her sit up, mostly holding her hips still. He gently pulled her shirt over her head, and then pulled his own off. He stood up and kicked his pants the rest of the way off.

"Hurry up, Braniac. You owe me." She flopped back on the bed, frustrated.

Jimmy smiled and disposed of the used condom before he put a new one on.

"Just hold on, Cin. We're going to do this how you like." He crawled over her, resting his forearms on either side of her head. He leaned down and kissed her.

"You're an ass." She snarled at him.

And then she gasped as he thrust into her again.

* * *

Jimmy rolled over and looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost five. Cindy was curled up into his abdomen, just barely awake.

"Cindy?" He asked.

"Hm?" She hummed.

"It's almost five. We have some work to do." He whispered. She didn't respond. Jimmy just smiled and kissed the crown of her head before rolling out of bed. He shuffled into his clothes, making sure he looked somewhat presentable, before shrugging into his lab coat.

He knew she was probably just as tired as he was, and he could do some of the work on his own.

Jimmy was just sitting down at his work station when he heard her rolling over. He glanced back and saw that she was fast asleep.

Jimmy smiled as he worked. There was something about their complicated friendship that he loved. He enjoyed being single and free of commitment. The sex was great, but the romance stopped there. They were friends and nothing more. The arrangement had worked for so long that they never questioned it. Neither of them brought up a change. They didn't ask to become a couple. They just had their times where they found comfort and release in each other.

It was the smartest thing Jimmy ever did.

He was mixing a few different chemicals when he felt a weight on his shoulders. He could feel her slender arms around his neck and the weight of her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, sleeping beauty." He smirked.

"Hey." He could hear the sleepy smile on her face. "What do we have left to do?" She asked. He saw her bare arm reaching for the rubric that was sitting on the desk.

"Not too much. A few more tests." Jimmy turned his chair to face her and saw that she was only wearing an unbuttoned lab coat and her undergarments. "That's not very safe." He frowned.

"I'm half naked and that's your first thought?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, damn, you're sexy and all, but you could hurt yourself." He looked her up and down. "And honestly, I don't think I have the energy to go again." He sheepishly admitted.

"Well, maybe I can fix that." Cindy sauntered up to him and sat on his lap, squeezing his hips between her thighs.

"Cindy, really, I don't think I have enough energy." He sighed. They really had work to do, and he was planning on going to bed as soon as she left.

"Keep talking." She mumbled. She planted kisses along his neck. "I'm listening."

Jimmy sighed. When she wanted it, she wanted it, and there was no stopping her. He could feel himself getting hard. She was grinding against him in a very appealing way.

"We have work to do, Cindy." He groaned. He was almost fully hard now and she was rubbing herself up against him.

That was something else she did that turned him on. She may have been sensitive to the touch, but the feeling of fabric rubbing her lightly and indirectly turned her on. Usually, if they couldn't wait to get down to the lab, they would flop on the couch in a tangle of limbs and she would sit on his lap and rub herself up against his erection.

Jimmy ran his hands over her bare thighs and held her hips tightly. He pulled her closer in time with her rhythm. She was starting to get loud and he was glad the lab was sound proof.

After a minute or two, her place slowed to a stop. She sloppily kissed him while trying to catch her breath.

"Now you've got me all worked up again." Jimmy sighed. She smirked at him.

* * *

"Cindy?" Jimmy shook her gently. She had been sleeping for a while and he had already finished their project. She didn't wake up; just curled into the blanket more.

He just knelt beside the bed and smiled at her for a minute.

Then the alarm went off.

Cindy jolted awake, covering her nude body with the blanket.

"That's Goddard." Jimmy panicked. "Someone's here."

"Why would you let me sleep?" Cindy screamed over the alarm. She hurriedly pulled her shorts on, forgetting about her undergarments, and forced herself into her shirt.

"I didn't think someone would be getting into the lab." Jimmy rushed over to his computer to check the camera.

What's wrong with Goddard? He saw Carl and Sheen standing in the main clubhouse.

I don't know. Let's go find Jimmy and ask. Sheen took initiative and headed to the lab entrance.

"I could kill them." Jimmy dared another glance at Cindy, who was pulling the lab coat on and fixing her hair.

"So do it. Just get them out of here before they figure it out." She hissed.

"They're not that smart, Cindy." Jimmy typed quickly on his keyboard and the alarm stopped.

"Hey, Goddard stopped going off." The pair heard Sheen by the entrance.

"How did you guys get in the lab?" Jimmy asked, twisting around in his chair.

"Your hair brush." Carl said, holding up the brush from his room.

"I had Goddard on guard mode for a reason, guys." Jimmy flushed in anger and embarrassment. Goddard came running past Carl and Sheen and sat down by Jimmy's side.

"Why? You're just doing homework." Carl pointed out, seeing the chemistry work on the table.

"I didn't want anyone coming in and screwing it up." Jimmy lied. He saw Cindy kick something under the bed. He assumed it was her underwear. "Besides, I thought you and Libby had plans." He turned back to his keyboard and put his head in his hands.

"We did. It's like 6. She went home a while ago." Sheen pointed out. Jimmy glanced at the clock. He hadn't realized it had gotten so late. His mom must have been wondering where he was.

As if on cue, his computer started ringing.

He answered it and Mrs. Neutron appeared on the screen.

"James Neutron. Come inside. It's dinner time." She put her hands on her hips.

"Hi Mrs. Neutron." Carl waved.

"Hi Jimmy's Mom." Sheen waved as well.

"Hi boys. Jimmy. I have dinner on the table." She turned her attention back to her son.

"Mom, I'm working on a science project." He whined. Cindy came waltzing up behind him, now in view of the camera.

"I don't care. It's dinner time." His mom demanded.

"I'll eat later, Mom. I'm doing important stuff. And I'm not hungry." He glanced back at Cindy, who had her hair in a perfectly neat pony-tail.

"Don't stay in the lab all night long again. You have to come in the house sometime." Mrs. Neutron sighed and signed off of the call.

"Do you think your mom would mind if we ate dinner?" Sheen asked.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jimmy asked, still irritated.

"We were bored and didn't have anything to do." Carl explained. Jimmy sighed and hung his head. This usually happened on weekends when they had no homework or other things to do.

But usually they knocked first.

"Well we're kind of busy, guys." Jimmy turned back to his keyboard.

"Can't we just hang out here? We won't touch anything." Sheen asked.

"Please, Jim?" Carl begged. Jimmy sighed.

"Fine. No touching anything." Jimmy glared at them both. The two of them sat down at the work bench on two stools. He blushed slightly at the thought of what had just occurred on the work bench.

Cindy was sitting on the bed with Goddard at her feet. He had taken quite a liking to her, Jimmy noticed.

"Hey, guys, while you're here, why don't you help me test a new invention?" Jimmy asked, turning to his friends.

"Sure!" Sheen shouted excitedly.

"Alright. You guys go in the test room. There are some ear plugs in there. Put them in." Jimmy explained, not taking his eyes off of his computer screen.

"Awesome." Sheen and Carl headed for the soundproof room by the workbench. The glass window let the remaining two teens see them put the ear plugs in.

"Totally soundproof ear-plugs." Jimmy turned on the music to the test room and turned it all the way up. Carl and Sheen blinked.

"Nice plan, braniac." Cindy leaned over the keyboard to see the computer screen better. He was typing up the chemical reactions from their homework.

"It buys us a few minutes." He shrugged.

"So how do we get them to leave?" She asked.

"They never leave." Jimmy groaned.

"Maybe I'll just go." Cindy sighed.

"No, don't go." Jimmy was about to reach for her hand, but he knew Carl and Sheen could see them.

"I should. They're going to figure it out. We already finished the work we needed to get done." Cindy explained, crossing her arms. Jimmy stared at his keyboard for a moment.

"Alright. You're right. Give me a minute." He turned off the sound and waved the two guys over.

"Nothing happened, Jimmy." Carl said, pulling the ear plugs out of his ears.

"That's good. They're totally sound proof ear plugs. I have another task for you guys." Jimmy took the ear plugs and put them away. He had already learned that they worked.

"What do you need us to do, Boss?" Sheen asked, saluting.

"I need you guys to run to the Candy Bar and get me a vanilla milkshake." He fished a five dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Carl.

"Alright, be back in a little while." Sheen pivoted on his heel and marched to the exit with Carl waddling along behind him.

"I'm so sorry Cindy." Jimmy turned around in his seat to look at the girl standing behind him. She was pacing back and forth.

"I'm going to go." She slipped out of the lab coat and hung it back on the coat rack.

"Cindy." Jimmy called after her.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Jimmy." She turned and ran out of the lab before he could stop her, which wasn't easy because she still hadn't found her bra. She grabbed her bag from the main clubhouse and hurried home.

* * *

"Here's your milkshake, Jimmy." Sheen set the cup down beside Jimmy's keyboard.

"Where's Cindy?" Carl asked. Jimmy could hear the bed squeak under Carl's weight.

"She went home. Her mom called and told her to come home for dinner." Jimmy lied. He took a sip of the milkshake, which was already starting to melt.

"Uh, Jimmy?" Carl asked.

"What's up, Carl?"

"Why is there a bra on the bed?" Jimmy whipped around and looked at Carl, who was holding up Cindy's lacy white bra.

"I-I, uhh," He flushed bright red as he tried to come up with a good lie.

"That's a sexy little number." Sheen took the bra out of Carl's hands and held it up to his chest.

"That's, uh, that's," Jimmy stuttered, "I can explain."

"You got lucky with someone here?" Sheen asked.

"It was an experiment." Jimmy blurted out.

"You were experimenting with lingerie?" Sheen asked skeptically.

"It's a bra that grows with the girl's breasts." He blushed at the thought. This was the worst lie he had ever told.

They had never been that close to being caught before. For the most part, their friends left them alone when they said they were working on homework. The only times they had almost been caught was when Mrs. Neutron came looking, and even then, she only knocked on the door.

Why hadn't they knocked like normal people?

"Hey, why didn't you guys knock first?" Jimmy asked.

"We didn't want to bother you." Carl shrugged.

"Eh, it's only interesting on a girl." Sheen tossed the undergarment over his shoulder and walked away to look at something else.

"How was your date, Sheen?" Jimmy asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Man, Libby is wicked mad." Sheen was over at the work bench looking at some empty test tubes. "Didn't even want to do anything. All she talked about was how horrible it was, what Cindy did to her."

"Cindy was pretty mad too. But she didn't really talk about it much." That was partly truth. He was sure she wanted to talk about it; they were just a little occupied.

He wasn't watching Sheen close enough and he suddenly heard a crash. He whipped around in his chair and saw Sheen standing over a puddle of the love potion Jimmy had been working on. He was trying to change the effect from puppy-love to a more adult, real love.

"Sheen! I told you not to touch anything." He yelled.

"It fell on its own, I swear." Sheen held his hands up in surrender and panic.

"Get out before you smell it." Jimmy flew from his seat and started running with Goddard on his heels.

The three boys got out to the backyard fairly quickly, but he knew he had inhaled a little bit of the potion. He felt a little light-headed.

Sheen had inhaled a lot more.

"Sheen, just go right over to Libby's house and look at her without looking at any one else. Hurry, before you end up falling in love with someone who isn't Libby." Jimmy sighed. He put his head in his hand and pointed down the street to Libby's house. Sheen covered his eyes and took off running, and it took a moment to hear a thump.

"Ow." Sheen groaned. Jimmy shook his head.

"Carl, you should go too. If you inhaled any, it would be best to not be around anyone right now." Jimmy said, shaking his head.

"You got it, Jim." Carl nodded and headed next-door.

"Goddard." Jimmy knelt down in front of his dog. "I need you to clean that up and filter the air in the lab."

Goddard opened his screen and showed Jimmy his security camera footage. This particular footage was of Jimmy and Cindy making out on the work bench.

"I'm not in love with Cindy. And I want all of that stuff out of there so we don't fall in love. We're friends." Jimmy argued.

Goddard shut his screen and headed back into the lab.

* * *

Jimmy was hunched over his math homework at his desk. It was getting late, but he only had a few more problems to do, including the extra credit one. He was starting to fall asleep sitting up when he heard a scratching followed by his window opening. He turned around in his chair just in time to see Cindy push herself up on the window frame.

"Cindy? What are you doing here?" He asked. This was another thing between them that had become normal, though it was less common. She liked to sneak over sometimes if she was feeling upset about something.

"Trying not to fall to my death. Help me, you idiot." She hissed. Jimmy rushed over to help pull her into his room.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he shut the window.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I just didn't know where else to go." She explained, flopping down on his bed. He noticed she had changed and was wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt with sneakers.

"Why? What's up?" He sat down beside her.

"My mom and I got into another fight." She rolled over onto her stomach.

"What was it about this time?" Jimmy awkwardly shifted his weight to make room for her. There wasn't much room on his bed and she was sprawled across most of it.

"I told her I was thinking about giving up the solo in choir. She said a Vortex does not give up. She said that if Libby couldn't be happy for me, I shouldn't be friends with her." Cindy explained.

"You know that's not true. Libby still loves you." Jimmy pat her back between her shoulder blades.

"Then why is she acting like such a bitch?" Cindy asked, her head popping up from the mattress. Her hair was pulled back in a messy pony-tail and all the strands that weren't tucked into the band bounced with every move she made.

"It'll blow over, Cin." He reached over to rub her shoulders and her head fell back to the bed. Her face was buried in her arms. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Want me to make you feel better?"

"I am not in the mood, Nerdtron." She snapped, twisting her neck to glare back at him.

Jimmy froze while she stared at him, but continued a moment later in silence. She put her head back down.

"Maybe I can invent something to stop her from being angry at you." He mumbled, mostly to himself. Cindy pushed herself up and swung her legs around to let her feet rest on the floor.

"No. No, I want to fix this myself." She sighed. Her hands rubbed against her thighs nervously.

"Well, if you need help, you know I'm here for you." He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and smiled at him, placing her hand over his.

"Thanks, Jimmy." She sighed.

"Sure you don't want me to make you feel better?" Jimmy asked. He scooted closer to her wrapped both of his arms around her from behind. Cindy giggled.

"Well, maybe just a little." She sighed an exasperated sigh.

Jimmy pulled her backwards onto the bed and kissed her softly. Cindy kicked her shoes off and they landed on the floor with a soft thud.

* * *

Cindy laced up her shoes before taking one look back at Jimmy, asleep on the bed. It was three-ish in the morning and she had slept for a little while, but she had to get back.

"Cindy?" He asked groggily.

"Shh. Go back to sleep." She rushed over and knelt beside the bed where he was facing. She pushed some of his hair back.

"Where are you going?" He asked, rubbing his eye.

"I have to go home." She smiled softly.

"No, stay. Stay here with me." He mumbled, his eyes closing again.

"Get some sleep, Jimmy." She whispered. "You'll see me tomorrow." He didn't say anything, so she assumed he had fallen back asleep.

Cindy tip-toed over to the window and opened it wide. The wind blew in and chilled her. It had gotten cold in the last few hours. She really didn't want to go out now.

Her eyes darted to the closet. She hoped he wouldn't mind. She waltzed over to it and grabbed one of the jackets from hanger. It was a little big, but it was black and it would keep her masked in the night.

She slipped into it, enjoying the warmth it provided, and headed out into the night.

* * *

Jimmy woke up naked in his empty bed. He looked around for a moment before he remembered that Cindy had snuck out. It was probably for the better anyways, he didn't know how he would sneak her out during the day. Her mom probably would have found out she was gone by then.

He headed over to his bathroom to use the facilities and fix his hair before going out with sex-head. It was going every which-way.

After he deemed his hair presentable for other people to see, he slipped into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a button-up. He noticed a hoodie missing from his closet. He made a mental note to ask Cindy.

Jimmy left his room, not bothering to make his bed, and jogged down the stairs. Goddard was there to greet him at the bottom.

"Morning, Goddard." He smiled and pat his dog on his head. Goddard wagged his tail in response.

"Good morning, Jim-Jam." Hugh called from the couch where he was reading a newspaper.

"Hey, Dad." Jimmy waved.

"Sleep well?"

"I slept alright." Jimmy stretched. He caught a glimpse of the clock and saw that it was close to 11.

"Did you want breakfast, Honey?" Judy shuffled through the dining room.

"No, I'm fine, Mom." Jimmy smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "I'm going out with Sheen and Carl today."

"Well, be safe. No intergalactic travel." Judy instructed.

"I know mom." Jimmy rolled his eyes. He slipped on his shoes before heading out the door with Goddard close behind him.

He looked at the street and saw that it was mostly empty. Libby's house at the end of the cul-de-sac was dark and quiet, which made sense because her mom worked early in the morning and Libby slept until the afternoon.

Carl's house had laughter drifting through the open window. It sounded like he and his parents were having fun.

Cindy's house was mostly empty. Her mother worked days while her father worked nights. And Saturdays were when her mom ran errands. He looked up to her bedroom windows. The curtains were closed, but they were sheer enough that he could see her silhouette. She was standing up, he assumed looking at her vanity mirror, and undressing. He saw her pull a jacket off, then a shirt, then finally her pants. He was rooted in place watching her.

"Hey, Jimmy. What's today's adventure going to be?" Sheen's shrill voice interrupted his moment of peace as he came walking up the sidewalk. Jimmy forced his eyes away from Cindy's window. Sheen followed his eyes, but Cindy had waltzed out of sight.

"I figured we would decide when Carl gets here. I was thinking we go to a beach somewhere." Jimmy shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Think Cindy and Libby will kill each other?" Sheen asked.

"No. I think they won't acknowledge each other." Jimmy looked back over at Cindy's house. Cindy was back in view, obviously wearing an oversized shirt and her hair was pulled back up in a ponytail again.

"Is Libby even up?" Jimmy asked, glancing down the street again.

"She said she was." Sheen looked down at his phone.

"Hey! Geek-tron!" He looked up at Cindy's window and saw her standing on the deck , her legs bare. She was wearing an oversized, open weave sweater and her bathing suit.

"What's up, Vortex?" Jimmy called back.

"How long will we be gone? Should I bring a jacket?" She asked, leaning over the railing.

"Wouldn't hurt." Jimmy shrugged. Cindy twisted around and headed back into her room, slamming the window shut behind her. Jimmy smiled at the window before turning back to Sheen, who was too busy watching Libby's house. Jimmy followed his stare and saw Libby emerging from the front door. She was wearing a long skirt over her strapless one-piece suit.

"Looks like everyone else decided beach, too." Jimmy pointed out.

"I'll text Carl and tell him. I should go grab my suit." Sheen said, heading over to the next street over. Jimmy remembered he had a beach bag packed in the lab.

"Hey, Jimmy. I have a few conditions. I am not sitting in the same row as Cindy." Libby said as she approached him.

"I figured. She'll ride up front so you can still sit with Sheen." Jimmy told her. She smiled sweetly at him.

"Thanks. So I was thinking we should go to a beach today." Libby took a water bottle out of her bag and took a sip.

"I agree. It's so nice out." Jimmy looked up at the cloudless sky.

"Nerdtron!" He looked up and saw Cindy standing back on her balcony.

"You know you can text me, right?" He shouted at her. He was sure she was rolling her eyes.

"What do I need to bring?" She asked.

"Beach stuff!" He smiled widely. Despite her anger, Libby was smiling too.

"Come up here and help me, Spewtron!" She growled over the street.

"Why does she need your help?" Sheen asked as he walked back over to them.

"Because she's not talking to Libby so she decided I'm the next best thing." Jimmy shrugged. He crossed the street, trying not to run so he wouldn't tip off their friends.

He let himself in and rushed up to her room. It wasn't often that he was there and less often that he was in her room, but he remembered the room exactly. Cindy was waiting for him at her vanity.

"What did you need help with, Cin?" He asked, leaning in the door frame.

"Shut the door, Jimmy." She waved at him and continued to run a brush through her hair. Jimmy did as he was told and waited for her to set the brush down.

"You alright, Cindy?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I want some help picking out a suit and a cover-up." She turned around on her stool.

"Just picking out a suit?" He smirked.

"We just had sex last night, Neutron." Cindy smiled at him. "I think we can hold off."

"You're going to torture me all day." He chuckled to himself.

"Pink or green, Jimmy?" She asked, holding up two tops. One was hot pink with halter straps. The other was lime green and strapless.

"I like you in pink." He confessed.

"Pink it is then." She set the green top back down and pulled the cover-up she had on off. Jimmy watched as she changed suits, trying his best to keep his hands to himself. She then went to her closet. "I don't know what to wear over it."

"That white sweater thing is nice." He pointed out.

"You think?" She asked. Jimmy grabbed it off of the floor where she had discarded it and put it over her head.

"I know." He smiled. "I'm a genius, remember?" He asked.

"Of course. You never let me forget." She smirked.

After a very brief make-out session, the pair headed back out to meet their friends. Carl had joined the group and was wearing a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt. Sheen had a similar look with a pair of trunks and a black wife-beater.

"What took so long?" Sheen asked.

"She couldn't decide which of her swimsuits looked better. I told her they were both obnoxiously bright so she should just pick one." Jimmy elbowed Cindy playfully.

"Yeah, some big help you are." She shoved him and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, everyone to the hover car. I have to grab my bag from the lab." Jimmy went sprinting around the house and down into the lab to grab his beach bag. He always had bags packed for every occasion. The beach was right between the space travel bag and the winter weather bag.

Once back to the front of his house, he caught sight of Cindy in the shotgun seat. The three in the back seat were laughing at something, Libby in the middle. Cindy was adjusting her sunglasses on top of her head and fiddling with the radio. Goddard was sitting on her lap, also wearing sunglasses.

Suddenly, he couldn't breathe. He felt a fog cloud his mind and he thought she looked like an angel. She saw him staring and smiled at first, and then when he didn't stop she just glared at him and shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you coming with us?" Cindy asked. The car silenced itself and they all stared at him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready, let's go." He quickly threw his bag in the trunk and got into the driver's seat. He stole a side glance at Cindy, which she returned, followed by a glare and an eye-roll.


	3. Chapter 3

The ride was long and torturous for Jimmy. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He had a lot of trouble keeping his eyes off Cindy.

"So how long before we can go back in the Lab, Jimmy?" Sheen asked, leaning forward.

"How long?" He asked, losing his train of thought.

"Yeah. You said the air has to clear out from the love potion I dropped." Sheen explained.

"The love potion." He mumbled to himself. He must have inhaled some. "Dammit."

"What?" Cindy asked warily.

"Nothing. A few days. Probably be fine by Monday." Jimmy shrugged.

No wonder he was feeling odd. He must have inhaled some of the pheromones and now he was starting to fall for Cindy. He would just have to wait for the effects to wear off.

"So what beach are we going to, Jimmy?" Carl asked. Jimmy was about to tell them which beach, but he quickly remembered that the only one who had been there and had a good time was Cindy.

"It's some remote place. It's a small island, so there won't be a ton of people there." Jimmy said. He didn't want to say that they had all been there before.

He tried to focus on his steering, but his hand was resting on the center console and was very close to Cindy's bare leg. He had wanted to reach over and run his hand across her smooth skin. He thought about putting the hover car on autopilot, but he didn't want to give any indication to the fact that he couldn't focus. Instead he just put both hands on the steering wheel and gripped it tightly.

Jimmy couldn't believe how thoughtless he was being. He should have remembered that the love potion had fallen in the lab. He should have gotten stuff out of his room instead.

"Stupid." He muttered to himself. Cindy looked over at him and he met her gaze. The three passengers in the back seat were absorbed in other tasks. Carl was asleep, and Sheen and Libby both had one earbud in, hovering over Libby's music player.

"What's stupid?" Cindy asked, making sure no one was listening.

"Nothing. Just forgot about something." Jimmy shrugged.

"What did you forget?" She looked in the back seat again.

"I'll talk to you about it later. Just, don't do that." Jimmy said.

"Do what?" Cindy tucked a lose strand of hair back behind her ear and tilted her head in question.

"Bird!" Sheen yelled. Jimmy forced his eyes up and saw a bird headed their way. He swerved and hardly missed it. Carl snored.

"Sorry. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Jimmy said quickly. "Sorry."

It took a few minutes, but Sheen and Libby went back to what they were doing.

"Are you alright?" Cindy asked quietly.

"No. Yes," He sputtered, "I'll tell you when I land this damn thing."

It only took a few more minutes for the gang to get to the beach. Jimmy landed on a grassy area and the back seats emptied quickly. Sheen and Carl took off running to the water, Sheen stripping off his shirt. Libby followed behind more slowly, stopping to set up her stuff on the sand.

"What's up with you?" Cindy asked.

"Yesterday, Sheen dropped the love potion in the lab, and I think I inhaled some of the pheromones this morning." Jimmy sighed, still gripping the steering wheel.

"So," Cindy blushed, "Does that mean-"

"I think it's making me fall in love with you." Jimmy finished her thought for her.

"How long will it last?"

"A day or two? Hopefully not any longer." Jimmy explained. "Just try not to distract me. You have a very distracting face, do you know that?" He laughed.

"Oh, is that so?" She asked, laughing herself.

"Just don't look so angelic and sexy and we won't have a problem." Jimmy said, getting up to grab his stuff out of the trunk.

"Oh, yeah, ok. Let me just get ugly real quick." She joked. The two of them stood awkwardly at the trunk.

"Unless you feel like sneaking off to fool around, you should join the others while I change." He suggested.

"Oh, right. I'll just go set up my stuff." Cindy slipped her bag onto her shoulder and headed for the beach. Jimmy watched as she put her towel down a good ten feet from Libby's stuff. Once that was set, she stripped down to her suit. He was really glad that he chose the pink one. It looked amazing on her.

Jimmy's attention was taken when Goddard waved his mechanical arm in front of his face.

"Right. I'll just go change." Jimmy said. He and Goddard headed towards the woods. Once he was far enough in, he quickly unbuttoned his jeans, enjoying the space it gave him. He sat down on the ground to give his body a chance to calm down.

"Goddard, did you clear out the air in the lab?" Jimmy asked. Goddard opened his screen and showed Jimmy the results of the air test.

No pheromones in the air.

"What? That can't be right. If I didn't breathe in any pheromones, what's wrong with me?" Jimmy asked, leaning in to look closer.

Maybe you inhaled some last night and the reaction delayed.

"It's possible I suppose. I haven't tested it since I altered it, so it may have developed a later reaction point." Jimmy shrugged.

* * *

After he changed, Jimmy emerged from the forest with Goddard beside him. He was in his trunks and button up now.

Goddard marched over to Libby and held a beach umbrella up over her head. She smiled and scratched his ear.

Sheen and Carl were waist-deep in water, splashing each other viscously.

Cindy was only knee-deep, and she was looking around for something. He assumed she was looking for rocks or shells.

"You going in, Jimmy?" Libby asked from under the umbrella. She was flipping through a magazine.

"Yeah. Just enjoying the view." He shrugged. He didn't care to specify which view it was.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Libby looked out over the water too. "It's such a beautiful day."

"It is. Temperature is at an adequate level, not too hot. And the clouds are absent from the sky." Jimmy looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. He decided to head out into the water.

"Hey, Jimmy, Let's play chicken." Sheen suggested.

"There are five of us." Jimmy noted.

"Libby's not coming in the water yet." Sheen explained.

"Why?"

"She wants to lay on the beach for a while," Sheen shrugged and he tried to run over to the more shallow area of the beach.

"Ok so who on who?" Jimmy asked, looking over at Cindy, bent over and grabbing something in the water.

Sheen laughed.

"Sheen." Jimmy scolded.

"What? It sounded dirty." Sheen defended himself.

"I'll be a base for someone." Carl shrugged as he finally made his way over.

"Sheen, do you want to be on top or bottom?" Jimmy asked as Sheen's laughter died down. But then it started up again.

"Ugh. Sheen will be the other base. He's stronger than me." Jimmy put his head in his hand. "Let me go take my shirt off."

He turned back to the beach and put his shirt on his bag. Cindy's stuff was near-by and he saw a purple package sticking out. He quickly reached over and hid it.

Was Cindy hoping to sneak away and have sex?

He blushed and hurried back to the water where Carl, Sheen, And Cindy were gathered together.

"So, no offence Cindy, but I don't think I'll get laid tonight if I'm your base, so I'll be Jimmy's base and you'll be on Carl's shoulders." Sheen was explaining.

"Ok. Understandable." Cindy nodded.

"Woo! Let's do this!" Sheen shouted. Jimmy watched as he and Carl dove under the water.

"Can we just leave them there?" Cindy asked, carefully maneuvering herself onto Carl's shoulders.

"As much as I would enjoy that, I think they'd catch on." Jimmy laughed, hopping onto Sheen's shoulders. He reached out to grab her hands and once they were locked, the two other teenage boys popped up.

"You are so going down, Wheezer." Sheen declared rather loudly.

"No way, Estaves. I've got Cindy. She's way stronger than Jimmy." Carl yelled back.

"Hey!" Jimmy shouted.

"Sorry, Jim." Carl apologized. Jimmy leaned on Cindy with all his might and she did the same. Carl and Sheen were still yelling at each other.

"You brought condoms?" Jimmy whispered in her ear. They were leaning over each other's shoulders.

"You went through my bag?" She whispered back.

"They were sticking out of your bag. I hid them so no one else sees them." Jimmy explained quietly. Sheen and Carl were smack-talking and not paying attention.

"I thought better safe than sorry." She mumbled. Jimmy was restraining himself from kissing her right there.

"We have to end this. I'm getting turned on and Sheen will definitely notice." Jimmy pleaded. Cindy pushed back and looked him in the eye, glaring at him for show. He looked at her and felt weak. Before he knew what was happening, he fell back off of Sheen's shoulders and hit the water with a smack.

* * *

After three more games of chicken with Sheen on Jimmy's shoulders, they decided that it was time to have lunch. Sheen's back was turning red from hitting the water. Cindy hadn't been knocked down once. That may have been mostly Jimmy's fault though.

Every time he looked up at Cindy, he went weak. Something about seeing her made his legs give out under him. The love potion was getting stronger; stronger than he had been ready for.

Carl and Sheen were up on the beach with Cindy and Jimmy following slowly behind.

"Are you alright?" Cindy asked, letting her hand run through the water.

"No. I think this is getting stronger. I look at you and I go weak. You look so captivating." Jimmy explained, avoiding her eye.

"You need to create an antidote when we go home. I can't have you falling in love with me. We're friends." Cindy said sternly.

"I know that. You think I want to fall in love? I'm not trying to." Jimmy let his hand swing beside hers, struggling to stop himself from grabbing her hand.

"Would it help if I covered up?" Cindy asked.

"Maybe. But I think you'd look beautiful in anything." Jimmy smiled sheepishly.

"Just keep your hands to yourself." Cindy glared at him.

"Sorry," Jimmy held his hands up in surrender, "You turn me on." He explained. They trudged onto the beach, sand coating their feet.

Sheen and Carl were sitting by Libby's towel, devouring sandwiches. Libby was daintily eating a granola bar. Cindy ran ahead of him and began laying her towel down on the sand. He sat down on one end while she sat across from him.

"So, did you want to sneak away later?" Jimmy asked quietly.

"Maybe. Do you really think that's a good idea?" Cindy asked, picking at her sandwich. Jimmy always found it kind of dainty when she ate a sandwich. She had gone through middle school with braces, and to avoid getting bread stuck in them, she would tear off tiny pieces of her sandwich to eat. Most of the time she still had the same habit. He noticed it was usually when her mind was preoccupied.

"Well, I mean, it might make things easier for me. Because with the way things are going, I'm doing something with or without you." Jimmy explained, taking a bite of his own sandwich.

"You need to get better at controlling your body, Neutron." Cindy glanced down at his lap.

"Try telling him that. He has a mind of his own. I think I need a cold shower." He motioned to his lap with his free hand while he took another bite.

"Ugh. Boys." Cindy grimaced and shook her head before tearing off a small piece of her lunch and popping it in her mouth.

"What else did you bring for lunch?" Jimmy asked, looking at her tiny cooler.

"A few water bottles, an apple, a banana, and some cookies." Cindy dug through her cooler.

"Could you not eat the banana?" Jimmy asked quietly.

"Why?" She asked, tilting her head.

"That'll drive me crazy." He mumbled. Cindy rolled her eyes and they continued eating in silence. Sheen, Libby, and Carl were laughing a lot, and they sounded like they were having fun.

"I wish Libby would forgive me already. I'm tired of us not talking." Cindy shook her head and angrily opened a water bottle.

"Why don't you apologize to her?" Jimmy asked, watching her take a sip.

"I didn't do anything wrong." She shrugged.

"Well, it'll get better." Jimmy reminded her.

"I hope so. I'm tired of having you as my only friend. I can't talk to you about stuff like I can with Libby." Cindy sighed, looking at Libby.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, Cindy." Jimmy said softly, pausing to look at her instead of at his sandwich.

"I didn't think you'd want to hear about girl problems."

"Cindy. You can talk to me about anything. I'm always here for you." Jimmy said with finality. Cindy sighed and set her water bottle down, contemplating saying something.

"Nick asked me out last week." She said quietly.

"What?" Jimmy whispered. He stopped eating his lunch.

"I wasn't going to tell you." Cindy put her hands in her lap. "I told him no at first, but then he asked me again a few days ago, and I told him I'd think about it."

"You're thinking about it?" Jimmy asked. He put half his sandwich back into its bag. He suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.

"I don't know. I wasn't going to say yes. But he sent me a really sweet text last night. He said he really liked me and wanted to be with me and he thought we could really be together for the long haul."

"But, Cin, you said it yourself. He's not smart. And he's trouble. You don't want to get mixed up with him." Jimmy reached for her hand, settling to rest his on top of hers.

"I know, but he's sweet. And I don't know, maybe we would work." Cindy shrugged.

"Just don't rush into anything. I don't want you to get hurt, Cindy." Jimmy squeezed her hand gently before pulling it back.

"I know. I won't. I have to give it a lot of thought." Cindy nodded.

"Want to go for a walk? You seem upset." Jimmy suggested.

"Yeah, I am a little." Cindy sighed.

"Hey, guys!" Jimmy shouted to the three other teens on the beach. Their heads all swiveled their way. "We're going to gather some wood for a bonfire. We'll be back in a little bit." Cindy quickly pulled her cover-up on while Jimmy put on his button-up. He saw Cindy slip her water bottle into her bag and grab the condom she brought, discreetly closing it in her palm.

"Ok, Jimmy!" Sheen shouted. Jimmy slipped into his shoes and followed Cindy into the woods.

* * *

"What are you thinking?" Jimmy asked, swinging his arm at his side. "About the whole Nick thing, I mean."

"I don't know. Stop that." Cindy grabbed his hand and held his arm still. "I don't think I'm going to go for it. You're right. He's not smart and he's dangerous." She nodded.

"I just don't want you to get hurt or get in trouble." Jimmy shrugged. "I mean, what if he broke up with you after you guys had sex? Or he got you arrested for something?"

"I know. Thanks, Jimmy." Cindy smiled at him. Jimmy smiled back, put his arm around her, and kissed her forehead. "Besides, if I went out with Nick, we wouldn't be able to do all the stuff we do." Cindy pointed out.

"That is true. And I like what we do."

"Me too. Let's make a pact." Cindy stopped walking and turned to him.

"What?"

"We keep doing this until we can both find someone else." Cindy extended her hand to him.

"Sounds good to me." Jimmy smiled, taking her hand. They started to shake hands, but Jimmy pulled her by her hand and they crashed together in a heated battle of lips.

"What are we doing?" Cindy asked, pushing him away quickly.

"Just go with it." Jimmy whispered in a husky voice. Cindy threw her arms around his neck and got as close as she could to him. He grabbed one of her legs and drew it up around his waist, and then he brought up the other one until she was wrapped around his torso.

Cindy felt her back hit the bark of a tree. It was softer than she had expected. But it was still scratching her.

"Jimmy, wait." She breathed. "Let's move to somewhere else. There's a big rock over there." Cindy pointed out.

Jimmy carried her a little further until her back was against the smooth stone. It was taller than both of them, and was a good foundation.

"Let's get this off of you." Jimmy pulled at the ties around her neck, then unhooked the bathing suit top.

"An eye for an eye." She smirked. She quickly started working the buttons on his shirt with her fingers.

"Your suit bottoms are still kind of damp." Jimmy noticed as his hands ran down her bare back and over her bottom.

"Yeah? And?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Just makes it easier for you so you don't have to explain why only half your bottoms are wet." He smirked at her and kissed her before he stuck his hand down her bottoms.

She started moaning as he worked on her gently. He felt her heals on his back trying to pull him closer. He wanted it just as bad as she did.

He felt her hand travel down his stomach and into his trunks. He struggled to hold onto her as her hand played with him.

"Easy, killer." He groaned. "You want me to finish before we even start?"

"If you're going to tease me, I'm going to tease you." She growled in his ear as her fingers ghosted over his head. He moaned.

"You're going to make me cum." He whispered.

"Do you really want me to stop?" She asked seductively. Her answer was a groan and something warm and wet on her hand.

"Cindy," Jimmy panted, "I am so sorry. I don't, I mean, I can usually last longer than that. A lot longer. I think that love potion is really messing with my body." He let her stand on her own feet. She looked down at her hand as she pulled it out of his pants.

"It's alright." She said softly.

"I'll help you finish if you want." He led her to a nearby stream and watched as she washed off her hand.

"No, that's alright. I think you need to come up with something to fix your head. You've always lasted longer than that." She said, confused.

"I know. I am so, so sorry." He said, burying his face in his hands. He could feel his face heating up.

"It's fine, Jimmy. Let's just get the fire wood like we said we would." She pat his shoulder gently before putting her suit top back on.

"I can't believe that happened to me." Jimmy groaned.

"Jimmy." Cindy said sternly. He looked at her through his fingers. "It's alright. Like you said, it's the pheromones. You can't help it."

"It's still embarrassing. I couldn't even last through foreplay." He ran his hands through his hair, tugging at it a little.

"Look, they're going to wonder where we are. Let's just get the fire wood. We don't have to worry about this right now." She kissed his cheek and headed back towards the beach.

* * *

"Hey, guys." Carl waved at the two teens carrying armfuls of wood. He was sitting on the beach alone.

"Hey, Carl. Where are Sheen and Libby?" Jimmy asked, setting his pile down in the sand between the two towels spread across the sand.

"They decided to go further down the beach. I think they're having sex." Carl shrugged, pulling his knees up to his chest.

Jimmy and Cindy blushed as they started building an adequate bonfire. The sun was starting to set, and it would be a good idea to get a fire going before it got dark.

Goddard was seated beside Carl, still holding the umbrella. Jimmy loved his dog. He always knew what to do in every situation.

"And they just left you here alone?" Cindy asked, adjusting some sticks.

"Yeah. I'd rather they leave me alone than do stuff here." Carl

"That's a good point." Cindy nodded, exchanging glances with Jimmy.

Once the wood was stacked correctly, Jimmy lit the fire with a laser burst from his watch. The three of them gathered around it. It was starting to cool down a little with the light fading from the sky.

Jimmy watched the fire burn slowly as he thought. Over the last year of all the experimenting he and Cindy had done, he had built up a tolerance. Sure, sometimes they were over excited, but when it came to her just using her hand, it took quite a while usually. He had to make an antidote for that love potion. This was messing with him too much.

He didn't want to love Cindy in a romantic way. He loved her as his friend, just as he does with his other friends.

He just doesn't see his other friends naked on a regular basis.

"Hey, guys." Sheen said as he and Libby came strolling up to the bonfire holding hands.

"Hey." Cindy smiled at them. Jimmy could tell that she was trying hard to be nice to Libby.

"I'm going to go for a swim. Cindy, did you want to come with me?" Libby asked. The boys were all silent as they waited for a response.

"Uh. Sure." Cindy said. She hopped to her feet and threw her cover-up at Jimmy. The girls headed for the water, staying a safe distance from each other.

"Is she over the whole solo thing?" Jimmy asked Sheen as he took Cindy's spot.

"Yeah. But she misses having Cindy to talk to." Sheen shrugged.

"Cindy said something similar a while ago." Jimmy commented. "Where did you guys go?"

"Down further on the beach. It was more private and we wanted to do stuff." Sheen explained.

"Hey! You guys want to look for clams with us?" Libby shouted. She must have started feeling awkward.

"Sure!" Carl shouted. He got up and looked at his best friends. "You guys want to come?"

"Nah. I'm fine right now." Sheen said.

"Yeah, I'll stay back too." Jimmy didn't want to be close to Cindy right now. Carl shrugged and went to join the girls.

"Are you ok?" Sheen asked once Carl was out of earshot.

"Yeah, why?" Jimmy asked, yanking his eyes away from Cindy.

"You've been acting weird today."

"I think I inhaled some of that love potion and it had a delayed reaction. I've just been trying to keep my hands to myself all day." Jimmy shrugged. Sheen scooted further away from him. "Sheen, it's not you."

"Okay, good." Sheen scooted back.

"It's Cindy. Just don't tell anyone. I think it'll wear off, but I'm going to develop an antidote tonight when we get back." Jimmy explained.

"Is that why you've been following her around all day?" Sheen asked.

"Well that and I don't want her to be by herself. If I go hang out with you guys, she wouldn't want to because she was avoiding Libby." Jimmy shrugged, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"Have you tried anything on her?" Sheen asked.

"No. No, that'd be too weird." Jimmy blushed.

* * *

The fire had burned for over two hours now. Everyone had gone back in the water to look for clams, though no one was very successful. They decided to dry by the fire before getting back in the car, but everyone was exhausted. Carl was the first to nod off and was snoring in the sand. Sheen and Libby had fallen asleep next, entwined together.

Cindy was resting her head on Jimmy's shoulder, just on the brink of sleep.

"Cindy, hey, don't fall asleep." He mumbled, putting his hand on her thigh.

"I'm not. Just resting." She mumbled.

"You want to go home?" He asked. She nodded. He made sure no one else was awake before he scooped her up in his arms and started carrying her to the hover car.

"I need my stuff." She whispered.

"I'll get it. Just rest, ok? You're tired." Jimmy set her in the passenger seat gently. He went back to the fire and looked at Goddard, who was sitting by Carl still.

"Can you put out the fire, boy?" Jimmy asked. Goddard opened to reveal a hose, which he sprayed over the bonfire until it was just wet lumber. "Come on, guys, get up. We have to head home." He shook everyone awake and they all trudged to the car in tired silence. Everyone threw their bags in the trunk before getting into their seats.

Carl's snoring continued once they were in the air. Sheen and Libby had fallen back asleep as well. Cindy was awake, but Jimmy could tell how tired she was.

"I'll be in the lab all night if you wanted to come over after." He said.

"I might. Maybe I'll just tell my mom I'm staying at Libby's tonight." She looked over at him.

"Maybe I can make up for what happened today." He gently caressed her bare thigh.

"Maybe in the morning. I'm exhausted, Neutron." She put her hand over his, stopping it from moving.

"I want to get that antidote taken care of tonight anyways." He nodded, taking his hand back to place it on the steering wheel.

"That's a good idea. As much as I love you as my friend, I don't want a relationship with you." Cindy explained.

"I feel the same way. What we have works and I don't want to screw that up." Jimmy agreed.

* * *

The ride back had been mostly silent. Libby and Sheen were sloppily kissing goodbye at the end of the driveway while Carl stumbled over to his home. Once everyone was gone, Cindy and Jimmy headed for the lab.

"Welcome, Jimmy." Vox said as she unlocked the door. The two of them, plus Goddard, made their way down to the main lab.

"Your bra and underwear are still here. And if you want something to sleep in, there's a small closet over there." Jimmy explained. He couldn't wait to get out of his swim trunks. The two of them changed quickly, Cindy into a pair of old pajama pants and a hoodie, Jimmy into his boxers and a t-shirt.

"I'm just going to lay down for a while." Cindy yawned. She curled up on the mattress and Goddard curled into a ball at her feet. Jimmy smiled.

He set to work with testing the love potion. His first test took a few hours to see what would be in his blood stream. It was around two in the morning when he finally drew some blood from his arm and got ready to test it.

"Neutron, come to bed." Cindy mumbled.

"I'll be there in a minute." He sighed. It was really late and he could check the results in the morning.

He injected the blood into one of his machines, input the chemical he wanted to test for, and let it start.

Jimmy was exhausted when he finally flopped down beside Cindy. She rolled over to face him, a soft smile on her face.

"Hey, you." She said.

"Hey yourself." He smiled back at her.

"I had fun today." Cindy whispered. Her eyes were struggling to stay open.

"Me too. Sorry we didn't do anything, though." Jimmy pushed her hair back out of her face.

"It's ok. You can make it up to me in the morning." Cindy mumbled.

* * *

Jimmy opened his eyes and saw Cindy hovering over him, still in his clothes from the night before.

"Hey, you're up." He rubbed his eyes.

"I couldn't wait to get up and have an incredible morning with you." She purred. He recognized the look on her face, and before he could reach for her to pull her close and kiss her, she gripped at him through his boxers. He inhaled sharply

"Just lay back. I'll make you feel amazing." Cindy looked at him with half-lidded eyes. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her. He felt her hand gently let go of him before she reached into his boxers and began playing with him a little.

"Cindy-" He started to tell her that he wanted to have sex soon, but she stopped him.

"Don't talk, James. Just close your eyes and let me do the rest." He followed her advice and closed his eyes while she stroked him. He was about to speak up when he felt her hand leave him, but he was silenced when he felt his underwear being yanked down below his erection and a hot, wet mouth taking him.

"Fuck, Cindy." He thrust once up into her mouth. He tried to just enjoy the feeling of her teeth gently scraping him and her tongue twirling around him.

"You like that, baby?" She asked as she let him go. "You're going to like this even more."

Jimmy looked up and watched her yank off the pants she was wearing, revealing that she wasn't wearing undergarments. She straddled his lap and kissed him passionately before she sunk down onto him.

"Cindy," He groaned, "Fuck, you're amazing at this."

"Just relax." She purred. She leaned over and started nibbling on his ear. "Come on, baby. You know you want to. Don't hold back."

Jimmy tried his best to thrust up into her, desperate to go faster. But she was strong. He couldn't move much.

"Cindy, you have to go faster. I need a release. You're teasing me." He whined.

"You want it, Baby?" Cindy asked as she peppered kisses over his chest.

"Please?" He begged. He felt Cindy let her weight up a little, allowing him to thrust up into her at his sporadic pace. He could feel it building inside him.

* * *

Jimmy woke up with a start. Cindy was still asleep beside him and he was so hard it was almost unbearable. He looked down and saw he was still clothed in his boxers and t-shirt, but he had a small wet spot on the front of his boxers. He felt on edge.

"Cindy. Cindy, please wake up." He shook her as gently as he could, but she just swatted at him.

"Get away from me, Nerdtron. I'm sleeping." She growled.

"Cindy, I'm serious, I just had a dream about you, and I need you right now." He panted. He tried his best not to move too much. The fabric against him felt too good. Cindy sat up and glared at him.

"Neutron, you need to control your hormones." She hissed. She looked down at him and saw how turned on he was. "What is wrong with you?"

"I was within thirty seconds of a wet dream and I need you so bad I can't stand it." He whispered. He leaned over and kissed her neck softly.

"If you need it so bad, take care of it your damn self." She pushed him away and lied back down with her back to him.

"Cindy, please?" He asked, reaching over to stroke her arm.

"It is 6:30 on a Sunday morning. I am not waking up just to have ten seconds of sex with you." She smacked his arm and curled herself further into the blankets.

Jimmy scowled at her. She was never much of a morning person. He laid back and tried to focus on anything other than his arousal. It wasn't much use though as he kept replaying his dream over and over in his head. He wasn't nearly as close as he was when he woke up, but he was still painfully hard.

"Cin? Are you asleep?" He asked quietly. She shifted slightly, but she didn't make a sound.

He closed his eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep, but he was too focused on other things. He found that if he moved his hips at all, he felt a jolt of excitement and an urge to reach down and fix this.

Jimmy had never really had the need to do that before.

After puberty, he got all the regular things boys did. He got random erections at the most inopportune times, he had wet dreams every so often, but he never got the urge to touch himself. He was too focused on school and science.

By the time he started really getting interested in having sex and thinking about doing something about it, Cindy had started exploring him enough to take care of it for him.

"Alright, if you don't stop squirming around, I'm going to hurt you." Cindy growled.

"Then would you please help me out?" He asked, equally as angry.

"Fine. If it'll make you go back to sleep." Cindy reached over and grabbed him through his boxers. She wasn't even looking at him. She was fuming.

"Fuck." He breathed. His hands flew back to grab the pillow behind his head as he tried to thrust up into her hand.

"You have issues." Cindy sighed. She rubbed him quickly and slightly aggressively.

Jimmy couldn't hold back much longer. His dream replayed on the back of his eyelids.

"Cindy, Fuck!" He shouted as he felt his release. He opened his eyes to see Cindy watching his boxers grow a larger wet spot.

"There. Can we go back to sleep now?" She glared at him.

"Yeah, sorry." He panted. He let his death grip on the pillow go weak. "I think I tore my pillow."

"You need to learn how to take a cold shower." Cindy let go of him and watched as he throbbed.

Jimmy rolled his eyes and curled up into the blanket, but he was uncomfortable in his now soaked boxers.

"Dammit. Now I have to change." He mumbled as he threw the blankets from his body and got to his feet.

"Well do it quietly." Cindy hissed.

Jimmy went over to his closet and grabbed a new pair of boxers and changed. He put his messy ones on the floor by the closet.

"Son of a bitch, Neutron." He heard Cindy whisper.

"What did I do?" He asked.

"I saw you half naked and now I'm turned on." She growled, sitting up.

"Want me to do something about it?" Jimmy asked.

"No, it'll be quicker if I do it." She sighed. He watched as she put her hand down under the blanket and saw it shifting under the fabric.

Jimmy couldn't help but watch her. She had her head tilted back and her eyes closed. Her mouth was moving, like she was trying desperately to stay quiet. He watched her chest move with every move she made, her breathing starting to speed up. And he saw that her hand was working furiously under the blankets. And he could hear it.

It took everything in his power not to go put his hands all over her body.

And just as he thought he would, he caught sight of his computer screen on the other side of the lap.

No chemicals in his blood stream.

And when he looked back at Cindy, she arched her back and her movements slowed.


	4. Chapter 4

Cindy had fallen asleep shortly after she satisfied herself, but Jimmy couldn't even think about going back to bed. He was at his work bench with his head in his hands, as he had been for over an hour.

He couldn't be in love with Cindy. They couldn't fall in love. It would never work. They weren't good together. He had to keep telling himself that. He had been working on-and-off on an antidote for love. He had to fix himself. He had to.

Jimmy was furiously working on this chemical when he heard Cindy get up. He did his best to ignore her, but soon she was pressed against him and leaning over his shoulder.

"Hey." She whispered in his ear. He shivered.

"Sleep ok?" Jimmy asked, not looking up.

"Well the bed got kind of cold without you." She said. He felt her arms wrap around his neck and her head rest on his shoulder.

"I'm busy, Cindy." Jimmy blushed madly.

"Come back to bed. I'll make up for being mean to you this morning." He felt Cindy pepper kisses on his neck.

"No, Cindy, stop." Jimmy sprang from his seat before he gave in to her suggestion. He looked at the confused and hurt look on her face.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, sitting on the stool he had previously occupied.

"I'm in love with you!" Jimmy shouted angrily. Cindy's eyes flashed.

"I-I thought you were going to make an antidote for the potion." She glanced down at the papers on the table.

"There is no potion. I have none of the chemicals in my system. I'm really in love with you, Cindy." Jimmy sighed. Cindy was shocked.

"I-I don't know what to say." She whispered.

"I'll fix it, I promise. If I can make a chemical to make me fall in love, I can make one to fall out of love." Jimmy said quickly. "We can't be falling in love with each other."

"Right. I know." Cindy sighed. She pushed her bangs out of her face. "I'm going to go." She hopped off of the stool and headed to gather her stuff.

"Wait, Cindy, I'll fix it. You don't have to leave." He scrambled over to her.

"I just can't be around you right now." She hurried around him with her beach bag on her shoulder.

"Cindy, wait." Jimmy reached out and grabbed her hand. "I'll fix it."

Cindy shook her head and hurried for the door to leave.

Jimmy watched her go.

* * *

"Good morning, Jimmy. Why didn't you come in last night?" Judy asked as her son schlepped through the back door.

"I was working on something really late. It was just easier to sleep in the lab." Jimmy yawned. He had slept only four hours.

"Did you want breakfast?" Judy asked, scooping some eggs onto three plates.

"I'm not all that hungry, Mom." Jimmy flopped down at the kitchen table and buried his head in his arms.

"Are you alright, Dear?" She asked as she patted grease off of bacon with a paper towel.

"I'm fine, Mom. Just really tired." Jimmy mumbled.

"Well, eat some breakfast. It'll give you some energy." Judy placed a plate in front of her son, kissed him on the top of his head, and went off to find her husband.

Jimmy looked up at his plate, resting his chin on his arms. He wasn't very hungry, but he figured he hadn't eaten since last night and it would be good for him. He took a small bite of his toast.

"Jim Jam! How was the beach?" Hugh asked as he sat down in front of his plate.

"It was fine, Dad." Jimmy sighed.

"You sure something isn't bothering you, Jimmy? You seem upset." Judy reached over to put her hand on Jimmy's back.

"Yeah, I just didn't sleep much last night. I think I'll just take my breakfast up to my room." Jimmy scooped up his plate and headed for the stairs. He heard Goddard's paws clicking behind him. Once he was in his room, he set his breakfast on his desk and flopped down on his bed.

"Ugh, Goddard, what am I going to do?" Jimmy groaned into his hands. "I scared her and drove her away."

_Do you love her?_

Jimmy thought about it. Goddard was more observant that he was when it came to human emotion, and he picked up on hints well. If he was asking this question, he probably already knew the answer.

"Well, I don't know." Jimmy turned to lie on his side. "She's smart, and funny, and gorgeous. She's sweet sometimes and tough other times. She understands when I need it, and she's hard on me when I need it too. And she's amazing in bed. She's perfect."

_You sound like you're in love with her._

"I am. I love Cindy. But I can't love her. It'll screw everything up." Jimmy pushed himself up to a sitting position. "We agreed to stay friends."

_Maybe she loves you back._

"No," Jimmy sighed. He got up and took a few bites of cold eggs. "You saw her face. She was devastated, Goddard. This could totally screw up our friendship. And her life. I mean, I could lose one of my best friend's over this."

Jimmy quickly finished his breakfast and regretted it. He felt very queasy. He fell back down on his bed, enjoying the cool feeling of his sheets.

But his bed smelled like Cindy.

"Fuck." He groaned. He took the pillow she used and chucked it at his door. Once he decided it mostly stopped smelling like her, he closed his eyes.

* * *

"Jimmy?" Jimmy woke up to hear a soft knocking on his bedroom door. He looked at the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was nearing two in the afternoon.

"I'm up, Mom!" Jimmy shouted. He groaned as he started to get up.

"Your friends are here." She called through the door. Jimmy was just up to a sitting position when Carl and Sheen came waltzing through the door.

"Hey Jimmy." Sheen screeched.

"Your father and I are going to the store. Have fun, boys." Judy smiled and waved as she shut the door behind her.

"Did someone have a late night?" Sheen asked teasingly as he sat on the desk top.

"Yeah, I was up late working on some experiments." Jimmy rubbed his eyes.

"And did those 'experiments'," Sheen made a quote gesture, "have anything to do with Cindy?"

"No. What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked, feigning confusion.

"Carl saw Cindy leaving the lab this morning." Sheen smirked. Carl nodded.

"Ugh, this is so screwed up." Jimmy put his hands over his face and flopped back down on his bed. "Alright, look, what I'm about to tell you, you guys can't tell anyone. Not even Libby. Especially not Libby." He sat up quickly.

"I swear, Jim." Carl held up his hand.

"Yeah, what's up?" Sheen asked.

"For the past year or so, Cindy and I have had a kind of a thing going on. And a few months ago, we started having sex." Jimmy mumbled.

"You and Cindy?" Carl asked in disbelief.

"Yes, me and Cindy. We're friends who have a lot of sex." Jimmy glared at his friends, who had their mouths open. "Or we did. I screwed it up."

"How did you go so long without screwing it up?" Sheen asked, drumming his fingers on the desk top.

"I thought that love potion was making me fall in love with Cindy, but I tested my blood last night and I had no chemicals in me. I'm falling in love with Cindy for real." Jimmy hissed.

"I thought you said it was the potion." Sheen pointed out.

"I know what I said!" Jimmy shouted. "Listen to what I'm saying now. I don't have the chemicals in my system. And I scared her off."

"Wait, does Cindy love you back?" Carl asked.

"No. Of course not. We're friends." Jimmy sighed. "You should have seen her face."

Jimmy put his head in his hands and tried to clear his head. He had to come up with a solution. He had to.

Just as he was trying to come up with an antidote for love in his head, he heard his window opening.

* * *

"Cindy? What are you doing? You're going to hurt yourself." Jimmy rushed over to the window to help pull her into the room. "I have a front door you know."

"I knocked and rang the doorbell, but no one answered." Cindy groaned.

"Sorry, I didn't hear it." Jimmy admitted sheepishly. The two of them stared at each other awkwardly.

"Could you two give us a minute?" Cindy asked. Sheen and Carl looked at each other, shrugged, then headed for the hall.

"We need to talk." Cindy said, leaning back against the dresser. Jimmy noticed she had changed into a t-shirt, but she was still wearing his sweat pants.

"I know. Come sit over here." Jimmy grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bed. "I know that I said some stupid stuff and I just want to let you know that I'll fix it. I'll come up with an antidote so that nothing has to change between us, ok?"

"I told Nick yes." Cindy said quietly.

"What?" Jimmy whispered.

"I told Nick yes." She repeated.

"But, what about the pact we made yesterday?" He asked angrily.

"Well I broke it. I can't do this friends with benefits thing if that's how you feel." Cindy stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"I thought you said he was dangerous and stupid."

"Well, maybe that's my decision." Cindy spat.

"Cindy," Jimmy stood up and grabbed her hands in his, "I just don't want you to get hurt." He put his forehead on hers and kissed her softly. Her small hands braced themselves on his chest and shoved, sending him tumbling back onto his bed.

"That's my mistake to make." She said with finality. Jimmy watched as she pivoted and headed to the door. She flung it open and made a noise of disgust when she saw Carl and Sheen trying to listen in. She shoved past them and stormed to the stairs.

"Cindy! Cindy, wait!" Jimmy shot up from his bed and ran after her. He almost ran into her when she turned around to face him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Don't!" She shouted. "Just don't, Neutron."

"But, Cindy-"

"No. I'm done with this," Cindy growled, "Now, I'm going to leave. Don't follow me."

Jimmy saw her turn around in a huff, throw the door open, stomp through it, and slam it behind her. He sank down to sit on the stairs with Goddard scratching at the door, waiting for Cindy to come back.

"What happened, Jimmy?" Sheen asked as he came jogging down the stairs.

"I don't know. I-I tried to apologize." Jimmy whispered.

"Come on, Jim. She'll get over it. Things'll work out." Carl soothed. Jimmy felt two hands on him, one on his left shoulder, and one on his right upper back.

"Guys, I don't think I can fix it this time." Jimmy rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"Carl and I will help. I bet we can come up with a great plan to make you and Cindy friends again." Sheen leaned against the railing.

"Yeah, we'll get you guys back to normal in no time." Carl agreed, sitting on the stair beside Jimmy.

"Whatever that is," Jimmy mumbled, "I'm going to head to the lab. Maybe if I can come up with an antidote, Cindy will forgive me." He got to his unsteady feet and started for the back door.

* * *

Jimmy had just finished resting on the pull-out couch that still smelled like Cindy and was about to get to work when Goddard ran up to him.

_Why didn't you go after her?_

"She asked me not to," Jimmy sighed, "if I did, she would have just been madder."

_You should talk her out of going out with Nick_

"Goddard, if I thought I could talk her into or out of anything, we wouldn't be having this problem. She does what she wants." Jimmy got up on his feet and headed to the work bench. He decided to start testing pheromones.

"And besides, she told me that was her mistake to make. And as much as I want to protect her and keep her safe, I can't." Jimmy sighed.

Goddard hopped up on the work bench beside him and put his head down.

"I know, boy. I miss her too." He pat his dog and got back to work.

"Hey, Jimmy!" He groaned as he heard Sheen's voice screeching through the lab.

"What is it, Sheen? I'm kind of busy." Jimmy called without looking.

"Carl and I came up with a plan." Sheen leaned against the work bench beside Jimmy while Carl wiggled onto another stool.

"And what is your plan?" Jimmy asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, you'll need eight live koi fish, a leash, twelve tea bags, and a bottle of lighter fluid-"

"Sheen, this is ridiculous. None of that is going to make Cindy forgive me." Jimmy interrupted.

"Well then what about if we kidnap Humphry, hold him for ransom, then when you rescue him, Cindy will think you're her big hero." Carl suggested.

"That would be great if Humphry hadn't died five months ago." Jimmy rolled his eyes as he scribbled some notes on a piece of paper.

"Well, what about if we-"

"Guys. Stop. None of these are going to work." Jimmy silenced them.

"Alright, hold on, we'll think of something." Sheen pondered. He pushed off of the table top and started wandering around the lab.

"If there's anything else we can do to help, just let us know. We're amigops." Carl smiled.

"I know, Carl." Jimmy smiled, "Thanks. And actually, could you do me a favor?" Jimmy asked.

"Sure, Jim. Anything."

"Can you go watch Sheen and make sure he doesn't break anything?" Jimmy asked. Carl opened his mouth to respond, but the only sound in the lab was a loud crash.

"Oops."

"Sheen! What did you do?" Jimmy whipped around to see Sheen standing by a cardboard box that was tipped over. Various hard drives and metal pieces were scattered around it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't see the box there." Sheen stepped back. Jimmy sighed and went to go pick it up. "What did I knock over?" He asked.

"Just some spare Goddard parts." Jimmy sighed. He started to load the spare pieces into the box when he remembered something. "Wait, Sheen!"

"What? What'd I do?"

"That's it! I know how to fix this!"

* * *

Cindy wasn't looking at him. At all. She was fixated straight ahead, staring at the chalk board, and ignoring him.

Jimmy didn't quite appreciate this.

It wouldn't be easy for them to go the whole day without talking, especially since they sit next to each other in every class they're in together.

"James! Stop staring at Cynthia." Mrs. Marsh yelled. Jimmy tore his eyes from Cindy and looked straight ahead, his face turning red.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry." He mumbled. The rest of the class giggled.

"Now, as I was saying-" Mrs. Marsh continued with her lecture, which Jimmy paid no attention to. He could swear he saw Cindy glance in his direction for a moment.

* * *

"Hey, Beautiful." Jimmy scowled into his locker. He slammed it shut to announce his presence, but Nick paid him no mind.

"Hey, yourself." Cindy smiled shyly.

"Here, I'll take that. Let me walk you to class." Nick took the book and the binder from her arms.

"Okay." She smiled with more confidence.

"So, I was thinking that Saturday, I'd have a big party for your 17th birthday. Neutron, you can come in that sweet hover-car of yours." Nick threw his arm around Cindy's shoulders.

Cindy ignored Jimmy and smiled up at Nick.

"Really? Thanks. That's so sweet of you." She leaned her head on his shoulder. The happy couple headed for the math class while Jimmy stood staring at the single book in his arm.

He hadn't realized how long he'd been staring, but the halls were quickly emptying, so he ran to class, making it through the door just as the bell rang. He took his seat beside Cindy, but he might as well have been there alone.

It wasn't even that she was purposefully giving him the silent treatment; she was just not acknowledging his presence. It was like he wasn't there.

* * *

"What's up with you and Cindy?" Libby asked as she sat down at lunch. Cindy was absent from the table, instead opting to sit with Nick and his delinquent friends. Jimmy scowled in her direction.

"Nothing." He grumbled. He glared at the food in front of him.

"Fine. I'll just ask Cindy later." Libby shrugged.

"Hey, beautiful." Sheen sat down beside Libby and kissed her cheek.

"I'm going to the library." Jimmy gathered up his belongings, tossed his lunch in the trash on his way out, and didn't look back at his friend's questioning glances.

This was unacceptable. Cindy couldn't just ignore him like that. After all they had been through, they couldn't just not talk. He knew that if anything, they would have to talk in chemistry.

* * *

"You can't keep ignoring me." Jimmy mumbled as he started their Bunsen burner.

"I have nothing to say to you." Cindy said coldly, still avoiding his eye. She was carefully mixing something in a beaker.

"So, what, you're just going to stop talking to me?" Jimmy asked angrily. Cindy offered no response.

"Really? After all we've been through? We just stop talking because of this?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes. Because I can't do this if you feel the way you do." Cindy whispered angrily, motioning between them.

"I told you I'd fix it. What more do you want me to do?" Jimmy ran his hand through his hair, tugging at it gently.

"I don't want you to do anything. Just leave me alone." Cindy sighed. She did not have the energy to deal with this right now.

"Cin, I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend." Jimmy sighed, trying a different approach.

"I told you to leave me alone." Cindy growled, going back to what she was doing.

* * *

Cindy had been trying to ignore Jimmy all week. It was pissing him off to no end. He couldn't sleep, he was hardly hungry.

And damn was he irritable.

The two of them were in math, Jimmy with his arms crossed and leg shaking furiously.

"Stop it." Cindy whispered.

"I'm sorry, I thought you weren't talking to me." Jimmy said smartly.

"You're an ass." Cindy mumbled back.

"Alright everyone, who has the extra credit problem?" Mrs. Jean asked. Jimmy's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about that with everything else going on.

"Jimmy?" Mrs. Jean asked, expectant.

"I didn't do it, ma'am." He mumbled.

"Cindy?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't either." Well at least Cindy was suffering as much as he was.

"You two always do extra credit." Mrs. Jean looked between the pair, baffled. "Alright, you know what, if you two work out the problem on the board, I'll still give you the credit." She sighed and motioned to the problem she had written on the board.

Cindy snarled at him, but she still got up to take a piece of chalk. Jimmy was never one to be shown up, so he joined her.

It was simple simplification problem, 9x-7i greater than 3(3x-7u). Jimmy had the left of the greater than sign, Cindy had the right.

They generally just ignored each other, anticipating what the other would do ahead of time, so they really didn't need to speak when working off of each other's work.

Once they got the simplified equation, their hands froze beside each other.

The board read 'I less than 3u.'

"See? Isn't that cute? I thought you guys would like that as a fun extra credit problem." Mrs. Jean was smiling at the rest of the class. "You two can take your seats now."

The two of them glanced at each other before quickly returning to their table.

* * *

"Neutron, tomorrow at seven." Jimmy turned to Nick, who was standing beside his locker.

"Oh, I don't know if I should come." Jimmy mumbled, reaching for his homework in his locker.

"You're one of Cindy's friends. Of course you should." Nick shrugged, leaning on a locker.

Jimmy sighed. He knew he couldn't say why it would be a bad idea that he went. He could just agree to go and not show up, but he didn't want to hurt Cindy more.

"It'll be a great party. You're coming." Nick decided for him.

"Alright, fine." Jimmy sighed, shutting his locker.

"And hey, I know you and Cindy aren't getting along right now," Nick stopped him from walking away with a hand on his shoulder, "but be cool."

"Hey, I'm trying to be cool! She's the one who-" Jimmy whipped around and started yelling, but he stopped himself. He knew telling Nick would only make things worse.

"Who what?" Nick asked, his breath smelling of smoke.

"Nothing. I'll see you tomorrow." Jimmy growled, starting to head down the hall.

"Are you going to the concert tonight?" Nick asked. Jimmy froze. He had forgotten a lot this week. "Cindy said she had two tickets saved for you and Wheezer."

"Yeah, I'm going." Jimmy nodded. He wasn't sure Cindy even still wanted him there, but he was the one who suggested he try out for the solo. He should be there to support her.

"Cool. See you there." Jimmy almost ran out the door to the school.

* * *

Jimmy slammed the door to the lab and ran down to the basement, not even worrying about if Goddard was behind him or not. He had until seven, which is when the choir concert was.

He thought about getting started on his homework, but he knew he couldn't focus. He threw his bag down on the floor and sat down at his work bench.

Jimmy had realized he'd been surprisingly fine not having sex all week. He threw himself into his work, so he really wasn't focusing on other stuff.

What he was noticing was that he missed her presence.

Cindy came over almost every day after school and on weekends. Some days it was just to have sex, some days it was to do homework, and sometimes she just came over and sat down on the couch to watch him work.

Jimmy found that he really couldn't focus on his homework right now. He was too upset.

Everything in the lab reminded him of Cindy. He could see her everywhere he looked. She was at the desk, running tests on experiments, at the computer, and especially on the bed.

And he really couldn't remember the last time they fought. He dreaded losing her as a friend over his stupid behavior. Carl and Sheen were great, but something about Cindy was different. She was much more intellectual that his other friends and she was a lot better to talk to about problems. She also took interest in the things he does.

Jimmy stopped trying to tinker with the experiment before him because his hands started shaking and his vision blurred.

Cindy really was his best friend. She was closer to her than anyone, even if they didn't start out that way. She understood him in a way that Sheen and Carl didn't and she was always there for him no matter what.

Except now. Now she was mad at him.

"I screwed up big time, Goddard." Jimmy sniffed, running the back of his hand over his eye. "I can't believe how badly I screwed up. Cindy's never going to want to be friends again."

Jimmy put his face in his hands and leaned on the desk. The lab was quiet around him, which he was thankful for. He didn't like anyone or anything disrupting his mental breakdowns.

He couldn't even find it in himself to be mad at her. He really just wanted her back as his best friend.

"Jimmy?"

He whipped around on his stool, furiously rubbing at his eyes, but it really didn't do much. Tears continued to fall from his eyes.

"Cindy? What are you doing here?" He sniffed.

"I, uh, I brought back some of your stuff." Cindy held up the bag in her hand.

"Oh." Jimmy didn't really know how to respond.

"I didn't think you'd be in the lab." She mumbled.

"I wanted some privacy." He shrugged, giving up on drying his face.

"You're crying." Cindy stated, still staying rooted in her spot. Jimmy used his arm to try and wipe his face clean.

"I was just, uh, I hurt my hand in one of the machines."

"Don't lie to me, Jimmy." Cindy shook her head. Her feet carried her forward until she was nestled between his legs. "I'm sorry." She said softly.

"I am too." Jimmy looked down, carefully avoiding her eyes.

"I still want to be friends with you. You didn't lose me." Cindy mumbled. Jimmy looked up to see a soft smile on her face.

Jimmy launched himself up to pulled her into tight and comfortable hug. It felt so nice to hold her again.

"I missed you." He mumbled.

"I missed you too, Dork." Cindy chuckled, giving him a tight squeeze. "Get off of me, though."

"Right, sorry." Jimmy stepped back, pushing the stool back under the table, and smiled at her.

"Here, I have a bunch of your stuff." Cindy set the bag on the table.

"How much stuff did you have?" Jimmy asked as she started pulling clothes out of the bag.

"Well, a few hoodies, a pair of sweats, a pair of boxers, and a t-shirt." Cindy listed off as she pulled all the named objects out of the bag.

"Wow, I didn't realize you had so much." Jimmy commented as he held up one of the hoodies. He hadn't worn this since his last growth spurt.

"I didn't either until I gathered it all up." Cindy shrugged.

"You can actually keep this stuff, you know." Jimmy said, holding the hoodie out to her.

"I didn't think you'd want me to." She said, looking at the plaid boxers in her hands.

"I don't fit into a lot of it anyways. Besides, you look good in my clothes." Jimmy mumbled, leaning in to kiss her ear.

"What are you doing?" Cindy asked, shoving him back.

"I-I thought we were back to normal." Jimmy stuttered.

"I'm still with Nick, Neutron."

"You're still with that delinquent?" Jimmy asked, now angry. "I thought you were doing it to get back at me."

"I'm doing it because Nick is a sweet guy." Cindy growled.

"He's not sweet. He drinks and smokes and fails his classes." Jimmy pointed out, his voice rising.

"He's not the smartest, and he doesn't make the best decisions, but that doesn't mean he's a horrible person." Cindy defended, crossing her arms. "I told you that you didn't lose me, we're friends. Nothing else."

"You're still mad at me." Jimmy stated, glaring at her.

"Because you just had your tongue in my ear!" Cindy snapped.

"Hey, you always liked that!" Jimmy shouted. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Here, just take your bag and go." He grabbed the bag off of the table and held it out to her.

"Fine." Cindy growled as she tore the bag out of his hand and headed back for the entrance to the lab.

Once the door slammed, Jimmy sat back down at his work bench and angrily dug his fingers into his scalp.

This was going to be one hell of a weekend.

* * *

"You look nice, Libby." Jimmy said as he found Sheen and Libby back stage. Libby was wearing one of the choir dresses, which was long and black. The neckline was not plunging, nor was it up around her neck. The dress went to almost the floor; the only freedom was a single pleat on the side, which allowed for movement.

"Thanks. I hate these dresses. I can't lift my arms higher than this." Libby held up her arms, which stopped at a level height with her shoulders.

"That just makes this more fun." Sheen knelt down until she had her arms over his shoulders, lifted her, and spun her around. Carl and Jimmy smiled.

"Libby, Mr. O said we're starting warm-ups." Cindy popped out of the girl's dressing room, wearing an identical dress that looked a little too big for her. It hung on her slender frame.

"Oh, right. I'll see you after the concert." Libby gave Sheen a kiss and ran for the choir room.

"You, uh, you look nice, Cindy." Jimmy mumbled, his face burning.

"Thanks." Cindy blushed as well, looking towards the choir room.

"Cindy!" Libby came back out of the room. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Cindy asked, confused.

"Mr. O said you were too nervous and that you didn't want to do the solo." Libby looked at her best friend in concern.

"Oh, yeah, I don't think I could do that in front of all those people. You can do it. You're so much better with stage presence than me." Cindy smiled shyly.

"Oh, thank you, Cin!" Libby hugged her tightly. "Hurry up, we're starting warm-ups." The taller girl went running back to the choir room.

"We'll see you after the show, Cindy." Carl said as he and Sheen headed for the auditorium.

"You're not nervous. You're never nervous." Jimmy said with a knowing smile.

"I know. I just thought that Libby had really wanted it and deserves it. She really would do a better job than me." Cindy explained, glancing back at the choir room.

"You really are something, Vortex." Jimmy said. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Thanks. But I really should be getting in there. I'll see you after the concert." Cindy smiled softly.

"Good luck." Jimmy waved as she went running in the same path Libby had.

* * *

The whole concert was full of choir arrangements from a television show. Six songs total, with four solo songs thrown in. It started out with the whole choir singing the song 'Somebody to love.'

"Can," Butch started, followed by the rest of the choir backing his drawn out syllable, "anybody find me, somebody to, love."

The soloists were mediocre at points, but surprisingly, Butch sang flawlessly. He had found that art was a great way to channel his anger, and music was part of that.

Following the first song, all the boys sang lean on me, which had the girls sitting on the choir risers swaying and smiling. He was sure that to their trained ears, it sounded great.

The first soloist, Brittany, sang rolling in the deep, which everyone seemed to enjoy, especially Carl. He had a thing for blonds, and Brittany was decent looking.

The girls all stood up, and Jimmy smiled as they sang a mash-up of Halo and Walking on sunshine. He knew that Cindy was a soprano, which was the high range, while Libby was an alto; the low range. He always loved the high notes Cindy hit. They sounded angelic.

Nissa took the microphone next, singing I dreamed a dream. Jimmy noticed people in the audience crying.

During the choir's rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, He scanned the crowd. He could see Cindy's parents in the front row, two seats away from Libby's parents. But he didn't see Nick anywhere.

Courtney stepped up to a microphone, taking it from the stand and belting out chandelier. Jimmy had to admit she sounded pretty good.

Jimmy finally saw Nick while the choir sang Don't stop believing. He was with the people in the standing room only section by the door. He obviously had shown up late and didn't have reserved seats.

The last solo was Wendall, singing we are young.

By the last song, Jimmy was falling asleep in his seat. Music had really never been his strong suit, and Cindy had made fun of him for most of 8th grade because he couldn't clap along to a beat. But then he heard the choir director at the microphone.

"We've unfortunately had someone call in sick and he was not able to perform his solo in this last song. But in his place, we have Miss Libby Folfax. Along-side Cindy Vortex." He said.

Jimmy's head snapped up.

"You're not alone, together we stand, I'll be by your side you know I'll take your hand." Cindy sang, her voice cutting through the silence in the auditorium. Jimmy loved the sound of her voice.

"When it gets cold, and it feels like the end, there's no place to go you know I won't give in." Libby's voice followed Cindy's. Their voices melted together in a pleasing way.

Jimmy recalled the many times that he would be working on something and Cindy would be singing somewhere in the lab. She always said that the acoustics were great there and she could practice her choir music easily. He always loved hearing her voice.

The choir backing them made the sound full and strong, and he couldn't take his eyes off the two girls at the front of the stage, belting out the words like professionals.

As they sang the words, they came together in the center of the stage and joined hands, which was a relief for Jimmy to see. He was glad they were friends again.

"Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through." They sang together. The audience erupted in applause as the two girls bowed, followed by the choir behind them.

Jimmy found himself standing and clapping with the rest of the audience.

He and Cindy locked eyes across the auditorium and she smiled.

* * *

_**Sigh**_**...Well the math problem was supposed to read 'I *heart* U' but I cannot do the mathematical symbol because fanfiction deletes it. So i hope ya'll are smart enough to figure that one out that it's supposed to be an awkward i love you moment.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

"You were amazing, Libs!" Sheen called when Libby came running around the corner. She ran full force at Sheen, shoes held in her hands. He lifted her up and spun her around with ease before he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Jimmy turned away when the kissing deepened and saw Cindy, standing by the door to the auditorium and looking around the lobby. He whistled and she turned to him instantly. He held his arms out for a hug and relief washed over her face.

"You sounded amazing, Cindy. I thought you gave it up." Jimmy said as he pulled her into his arms.

"I did, But Mr. O convinced me to take it back when Keith called and said he had laryngitis. I told him I could get over my stage fright with Libby there with me." Cindy blushed.

"You were amazing, Cin. Breathtaking." Jimmy told her as she pulled back a little.

"Thanks. And thanks for coming." Cindy gave him another quick hug.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Jimmy smiled back at her.

"Hey, Beautiful." Jimmy's smile fell when they turned and saw Nick standing there in his leather jacket and greasy jeans.

"Nick!" Cindy's smile widened as he pulled her in for a kiss.

"You sounded fucking awesome, Babe. So sexy up there." Nick said, ignoring Jimmy. The taller boy nuzzled Cindy's neck softly while Jimmy did his best to look away. He felt too uncomfortable, so he cleared his throat.

"Hey, Cindy. You did great." Sheen, Libby, and Carl joined the group.

"Thanks Sheen." Cindy said, leaning on Nick.

"Hey, Babe, you wanna go for a ride?" Nick asked.

"You brought your bike?" Cindy asked excitedly. Jimmy hadn't heard that voice from her since the first time they had sex in the hover car on the way to Paris.

"Of course. Go get changed." Nick punctuated his demand with a smack on Cindy's back side, to which she giggled, swatted at his hand, and took off running with Libby in tow.

"Libby did a really great job too, Man." Nick turned to Sheen, who was beaming with pride.

"Thanks. She sounded great." Sheen mused.

"James, have you seen Cynthia?" Jimmy turned around and saw Mrs. Vortex, her hair in a perfect bun. She wore a designer suit in lavender with a white shirt tucked into the skirt.

"She just went back to change out of her dress." Jimmy jerked a thumb over his shoulder, suddenly nervous. Something about Cindy's mom scared him.

"She was wonderful, wasn't she?" Mrs. Vortex asked.

"She really was. She had the best performance of the night." Jimmy agreed.

"I thought she was wonderful too. The girls perform so well together." Mrs. Folfax came shuffling up to them, looking much more comfortable in her jeans and polo shirt, her hair back in a headband.

"They really do." Sheen joined in. Jimmy was glad for the other target in the conversation.

"Sheen, Honey, glad you came." Mrs. Folfax reached out to hug Sheen. Over the years, Sheen had grown close with Libby's mom. His own mom had passed in the birth of his little sister ten years prior.

"Cynthia!" Mrs. Vortex called, waving a hand at her daughter. The bracelets on her wrist jingled and her heels clacked on the tile floor as she took a step.

Cindy came running over with Libby following behind, both back in street clothes. Libby was in a pair of jeans and an off-the-shoulder sweater. Cindy was wearing jean shorts and an oversized red sweater.

It suddenly dawned on him that it was his sweater.

* * *

"Thanks for covering for me, Neutron." Cindy said as he walked her out of the building. Nick went ahead to pull his bike up to the front of the school.

"No problem. It's not entirely untrue. I have work to do in the lab, it's believable you'll be with me." He shrugged, kicking at a pebble.

"And thanks again for coming. It means a lot to me." Cindy tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I enjoyed it." Jimmy smiled softly. "And, uh, that's my shirt." He blushed.

"Oh. Right. I forgot it was yours." Cindy flushed. Jimmy remembered that night.

* * *

_ "That was incredible." Cindy panted, flopping onto her back. The fire place roared and radiated warmth. _

_ "It really was." Jimmy agreed, reaching for his water bottle on the side table._

_ "I'm so glad Libby and Sheen took your guy's room." Cindy sighed as she turned her head._

_ "Me too." Jimmy sat up, his legs screaming in protest. It was a little after one in the morning and they were up to three times. _

_ "Hey, come back to bed. It's cold." Cindy reached for him._

_ "Relax. I'm just putting my shorts back on." Jimmy chuckled. He reached across the bed and stroked her cheek gently._

_ "Well, hurry up." She huffed, but still she leaned into his hand._

_ "Here." He leaned down and picked up his sweater to hand to her._

_ "Thanks." She mumbled, wiggling into it. She sat up slowly, pulling her knees up towards her chest to hug them. She pushed a few strands of hair out of her face and back towards her messy ponytail. _

_ "Cindy, you look beautiful in that." Jimmy sighed, climbing back into bed. _

_ "Yeah?" She asked, teasingly. _

_ "Hm," He hummed running his hand over her bare thigh, "How about you don't take it off?" _

_ "Alright," She smiled, "but these have to come off." Cindy tugged at his boxers. _

_ "Sounds good to me." Jimmy pulled her on top of him until she was straddling his hips. "You're so sexy, Cin." _

_ "You too, Jimmy." Cindy whispered as she ran her hands over his bare torso._

_ "Cindy!" The two of them froze when they heard a knock on the door._

_ "Go hide." Cindy whispered, swinging her leg back over and curled up, pretending to sleep. Jimmy slipped into the bathroom just as the door was opening. _

_ "Hm? Libby?" Cindy asked, feigning sleep._

_ "Girl, where is my purple bag?" Libby asked. Jimmy could hear her shuffling around._

_ "By the closet. Why?" _

_ "Sheen only brought two condoms." Libby explained. _

_ "Oh."_

_ "Sorry, I'm going. Go back to sleep." Jimmy waited until the door closed before he snuck back out. He saw Cindy, still curled on the bed._

_ "Tired, Cin?" Jimmy asked as he crawled into bed._

_ "Yeah. I didn't realize how tired until I closed my eyes." Cindy yawned. _

_ "Let's get some sleep." Jimmy crawled in with her, slipping an arm around her waist. _

_ The fire crackled_

* * *

"And when I woke up, you were gone. I guess you went to Carl's room to sleep on the floor." Cindy licked her lips.

"That's right. I remember that." Jimmy whispered, his throat dry.

"I loved this sweater and it reminded me of that night." Cindy shrugged, her face heating up.

"It was a great night. Really, uh," Jimmy paused to take a deep breath, "really hot."

"Yeah. The fire and the," Cindy paused, taking a step closer to him, "the heat." Jimmy's head leaned towards her, but they were interrupted by the sounds of a loud motorcycle.

"Come on, Babe! Let's split." Nick shouted as he took his helmet off and held one out to her.

"Right. Coming!" She shouted back. "Thanks again, Jimmy. For everything."

"No problem." Jimmy waved as she sprinted off to the street. She pulled the helmet on, hopped on the bike, and held onto Nick tight.

Nick waved over his shoulder as they sped off.

* * *

"How you holding up, Jim?" Carl asked as Jimmy tinkered with his most recent invention. It was almost done; he was just working out a few little kinks.

"In what sense?" Jimmy asked, gesturing with a wrench.

"In a Cindy sense." Carl sighed, resting his head in his palm.

"Oh. That. That's complicated." Jimmy sighed, setting his wrench down. "She's with Nick, even though we're friends again. And she seems to enjoy being with him."

"She's a totally different person, Jimmy." Sheen said, pausing his movements. He was spinning in circles in one of the wheeled chairs.

"How so?" Jimmy picked up a screw driver and focused on the hunk of metal on the work bench.

"She let Nick smack her ass. And boss her around. And call her sexy. That's weird." Sheen explained. He tried to get up to join his friends at the work bench, but he quickly flopped back, unable to stand up.

"It's not weird. She's in a first relationship. She has hormones floating around in her brain." Jimmy waved the screw driver around for emphasis.

"She had hormones with you too, Jim. But she didn't act different. She's, oh what's the word?" Carl's face knit in confusion.

"Dumb?" Sheen asked.

"Sheen!" Jimmy scolded, slamming his tool down on the table top.

"What? She acts dumb. Like a weird, clingy girl." Sheen explained, finally staggering to his feet.

"Submissive!" Carl shouted. "She acts submissive. She's not her usual dominating self."

"What like she usually tops?" Sheen asked, picking up a level and watching the bubble move as he tilted it.

"Not dominant in a crude way, Sheen," Jimmy turned around on his stool, "Put that down."

Sheen looked at the tool for a moment longer, tossed it back in the box, and sauntered over to the work bench.

"No, Sheen, dominant like in charge." Carl explained.

"Oh." Sheen nodded in understanding.

"She may be less commanding, but I wouldn't say she's submissive." Jimmy shrugged, trying to re-focus.

"Did she ever let you smack her backside?" Carl asked, adjusting his glasses.

"No. I tried that once. She turned around and slapped me." Jimmy sighed, dropping his screw driver back down to the desk. It was no use. He couldn't focus when he was thinking about this. He decided not to tell them that Cindy had told him that it was a way of laying claim to her. That she didn't belong to him so he had no right to smack her behind.

"And she let Nick do it tonight." Carl pointed out.

"And in front of people, too." Sheen added.

"Thanks for reminding me." He put his head in his hands. "It's late, guys. I'm going to head in to bed." Jimmy sighed and pushed away from the work bench.

The trio shut down the lab on autopilot. Carl and Sheen knew the right levers to pull and buttons to push, and Jimmy was grateful for the silence.

Once the three were outside and heading their separate ways, Jimmy's ears picked up the sound of a motorcycle.

* * *

Jimmy knelt behind the hedge beside his house while he watched Cindy and Nick.

Cindy was sitting on his lap, still on the motorcycle. It reminded him of when she sat on his lap while he was working. He almost wanted to interrupt them, but he knew it wouldn't be appropriate.

They had been kissing for a good ten minutes, and since the lights in Cindy's house were dark, Jimmy assumed that her parents were asleep.

"I really should get inside before someone wakes up." Cindy giggled.

"Aw, come on, just another minute." Nick ran his hands up her back. Jimmy felt his face grow hot in anger.

"I can't." Cindy sighed. But she made no move to get off of him and go inside.

He couldn't think of what to do. He had to do something. This was disgusting and shouldn't be in public. He looked around, and saw only a stick.

It was better than nothing.

Jimmy picked up the stick and threw it into the street as hard as he could. He wasn't the strongest, but it managed to hit the pavement with a loud crack.

"What was that?" Cindy asked, looking around. He got lucky that the stick didn't land under a streetlight.

"Nothing." Nick shook his head and tilted her head back.

"I should go in. I'll see you tomorrow." Cindy placed a final kiss on his lips and started for her house. Jimmy smirked.

Nick made a U-turn and sped off out of the cul-de-sac.

Jimmy was quietly gloating over his victory when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Hello?" He asked.

_"Jimmy?"_

"Cindy? What's up?" He sat down on the cold, wet ground and started to pluck at the grass.

_"I just, I wanted to talk. Could I come over?"_

"It's a little late, Cin-"

_ "Aren't you still in the lab?"_

"No." Jimmy shook his head. He pulled a dandelion from the ground, still bright yellow. "I'm coming over."

_"What? No, wait-"_

"Be there soon." Jimmy ignored her protests and ended his call. He pocketed his phone and snuck across the street.

* * *

"You make this look easier than it is." Jimmy groaned as he crouched through the window. Cindy's balcony was hardly big enough to climb onto.

"You shouldn't be here." Cindy rushed over and covered his mouth. He took a moment to scan her. She was wearing a large t-shirt that went to her mid-thigh and her hair was up in a messy bun.

"Why? You would have snuck into my room." Jimmy whispered as he gently pushed her hand away.

"Your window is on the back of your house. Anyone could have seen you." Cindy whispered. She stuck her head out the window, looked left and right down the street, then pulled back and shut it.

"No one was out." Jimmy shrugged, lowering his hood.

"Well keep your voice down. My parents are in the next room." Cindy whispered, locking her bedroom door.

"What did you want to talk about? Is everything alright?" Jimmy leaned back on the wall beside a movie poster.

"I don't know." Cindy sighed, sitting down on her bed.

"You don't know?" Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nick's just not what I expected." She flopped back, the t-shirt riding up her thighs.

"What do you mean?" He strode to the stool in front of the vanity to sit down.

"Well we hung out at the Candy Bar for a while. But then we went outside and he started smoking. Like pot. And I didn't know what to say. I knew he smoked but I guess I never thought he'd do it around me." Cindy explained, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Is that all?" Jimmy asked. Cindy sighed and flopped back down. He knew she was trying to say something.

He decided to give her some time to think. He let his eyes wander around her room. The walls were a light pink, still reminiscent of her childhood. The dressers, bed, and vanity were a worn yet classy white. The bed was covered with a wrinkled, light-green comforter and the matching decorative pillows were piled on the floor at the foot of it. The windows were framed with matching green, sheer curtains. Two chairs sat nestled between the windows, one sage arm chair, one white wooden chair, with a small white table between them. On top of the table sat a pile of book waiting to be read.

Mystery novels, no doubt.

Cindy was fascinated with mysteries. The proof was the shelf of Nancy Drew books on the shelf above her desk. The white desk was neat and organized, with a stack of text books piled in the center.

"He asked me if I was a virgin." Cindy blurted, still staring at the ceiling.

"He asked you that?" Jimmy asked, his attention flying back to the center of the room.

"I told him I was. I couldn't tell him the truth." Cindy shrugged.

"What did he say?"

"He said that he hoped he could give me the best birthday present ever tomorrow," Cindy sighed, "after my party."

"He wants your first time to be with him?" Jimmy asked. "So soon?"

"I just kind of smiled and nodded. I didn't know what to say."

"Why didn't you say no?"

"I don't know, Spewtron. If I said 'no' I wouldn't be having this problem." Cindy quickly sat up and slammed her hands onto the mattress.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. No one's forcing their way into my pants." Jimmy hissed.

"That's not something to brag about, Geek." Cindy quipped. She fell back to her bed with her hands over her face.

"Just tell him no tomorrow. It's not so hard." Jimmy shrugged. He looked down at the tattered carpet and started twiddling his thumbs.

"When is the last time you said no to sex?" Cindy asked, her voice muffled by her hands.

Jimmy's hands froze.

"That's beside the point." He blushed.

"And what's going to happen when we have sex and I don't start bleeding? Or when he realizes it's not actually hurting me." Cindy asked, sitting up again.

"Well, statistically, 63% of women don't experience any discomfort or vaginal bleeding their first time-"

"Well I am not one of those girls, Neutron." Cindy snapped, whirling around to glare at him. He remembered very well that their first time was painful for her, and in turn painful for him. He still had five little scars on his shoulder from her fingernails.

"I know that. I'm trying to help you come up with an explanation here." Jimmy glared back at her.

"I don't want an explanation. I want you to get me out of this." Cindy growled.

"I can't get you out of it, Cindy. You have to get yourself out." Jimmy explained, keeping his hands folded in his lap.

"You have to help me. Don't leave my side tomorrow. Then he can't get time alone with me." Cindy turned to face Jimmy fully, their feet resting in a tangled mess on the floor.

"I can't do that. Not only will people think that's weird, but Nick might hurt me." Jimmy explained, nudging her bare foot with his sneaker.

"What am I going to do?" Cindy whined.

"Say no." Jimmy repeated. He didn't know why it was so hard for her to grasp.

"I can't just say no. He's my boyfriend. It's harder than that." Cindy sighed.

"Practice with me." Jimmy suggested. "Here, pretend I'm Nick."

"This is dumb."

"Hey, Sexy," Jimmy attempted to deepen his voice, which elicited some giggles out of Cindy, "Let's go upstairs so I can bang you."

"No." Cindy laughed.

"Come on. I'll take care of you." Jimmy's voice broke character as he laughed along with Cindy.

"No." She repeated, trying to calm her laughter.

"Don't you want to feel good? Do it with me. Delinquents are more fun." Jimmy's imitation wasn't even close to Nick's voice, but he was having fun now.

"You sound like such an idiot, Neutron." Cindy laughed.

"Neutron? I'm Nick Dean. I'm cool." Jimmy said in his raspy imitation voice. "I drink. I do drugs. I flunk classes. But I've got awesome hair and abs."

Cindy continued to laugh while Jimmy mocked Nick further. He commented on how he had a cool car, drove it really fast, and wore grubby, beat up jeans.

"You're such a dork, Neutron." Cindy laughed.

"But you love me." Jimmy laughed as well until he realized what he said. The laughter in the room stopped immediately. The two teens stared at each other, not acknowledging anything that had been said.

The break in the silence was when Jimmy lunged at Cindy on the bed.

* * *

"Cynthia! Get up! It's nearly 10 o'clock!" Cindy opened her eyes and heard her mom shouting through the door. "Get up or I'm coming in!"

"Jimmy." Cindy whispered, shaking him frantically.

"What? What happened?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his eye.

"We fell asleep. Hide." Cindy whispered. She shoved him hard enough that he tumbled to the floor before he went running for the closet.

"What was that?" Mrs. Votex stormed in. Her hair was pulled back in her customary and sleek bun, and her outfit was a deep purple dress with a white blazer. Her black heels sunk into the carpet.

"I accidentally hit my nightstand when I rolled over." Cindy cradled her hand, feigning pain.

"It's nearly 10. You need to get up." Mrs. Vortex repeated.

"I'm up, Mom." Cindy nodded, pulling her blankets up around her shoulders as she sat up.

"Good. Be downstairs by 11." Sasha turned and headed for the door but paused in the doorway. "And happy birthday, Dear."

"Thanks, Mom." Cindy sighed. The door shut with a soft click and Jimmy slowly opened the closet door, peering out into the room.

"She's gone." Cindy explained.

"That was a close call." Jimmy said as he stepped fully into the bedroom.

"You should probably go." Cindy reached up to un-do her bun.

"You alright?" Jimmy asked, looking around for his shirt.

"No." Cindy shook her head, letting her hair fall down in crimped waves to her shoulders.

"I'm sorry." Jimmy shook his head and leaned on the wall beside him. "I don't know what came over me."

"I didn't exactly stop you. I just cheated on Nick, my mom almost caught us, and she still woke me up before 10 on my birthday." Cindy listed, rolling over to put her head in her pillow.

"Hey, Cin," Jimmy rushed over to the bed and sat beside her, putting his hand on her bare back.

"Don't touch me." Cindy snapped.

"Right. It was just a fluke, okay? It won't happen again." Jimmy explained, awkwardly putting his hands on his knees. "I'm sorry."

"Just go home. I'll see you tonight at the party." Cindy mumbled into her pillow.

"Right. I'll get dressed." He reached down to grab is pants and shirt. Once he was dressed and his shoes laced up, he stood at the window at the back of the house. He didn't know how he was going to sneak back, but he was sure he would figure it out. He just had to get out of Cindy's room.

It reeked of sex.

"Hey, Cindy?" Jimmy sat down on the window sill with one leg on the carpet and one hanging down outside.

"Hm?" Cindy asked, turning her head to face him.

"Happy birthday." He smiled softly.

"Thanks, Neutron." She smiled back before she buried her head in her pillow again. Jimmy looked down at the bushes below him. He hoped he could hold onto the siding well enough to get down.

* * *

"Good morning, whore." Sheen greeted as he saw Jimmy coming around the side of Cindy's house, picking burrs off of his jacket.

"Why are you even awake? Don't you sleep until two on Saturdays?" Jimmy asked, rolling his eyes.

"On an average Saturday. But today, Libby's mom is going to visit her grandma after work, so the house is empty for most of the day." Sheen explained with a grin on his face.

"Why can't you guys do stuff at your house? Your dad works Saturdays too." Jimmy pointed out as the pair crossed the street.

"Because my little sister is there." Sheen's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Shouldn't you be home with her?" Jimmy asked, his sneakers hitting the sidewalk in front of his house.

"Annita can take care of herself." Sheen shrugged, his voice shifting into his native accent. Jimmy always noticed when he talked about his family, their names took on an accent. Anna was usually the only one he talked about. She was in the eighth grade at Retroville Middle School, and she still idolized her big brother.

"Well go have fun with your girlfriend. I have more work to do in the lab before tonight." Jimmy waved him off.

"Later Jimmy." Sheen excitedly ran down the street towards Libby's house.

The boy left standing on the side walk headed out back, but instead of going to the lab, he stopped at the back porch. The drainage basin at the back of his yard was full of rain water, enough that he wouldn't be able to cross it without getting wet. The park was empty, though he was sure by noon it would be full of little kids in the neighborhood. There were less of them now since a lot of the neighborhood grew up, but there were still little siblings and new people moving in.

As young teens, he and Cindy spent a lot of time there. Since the two of them were responsible, they usually had later curfews than their friends. He remembered the summer before 7th grade when he hit his growth spurt.

* * *

_"Hey, Brace face." Jimmy said from where he sat on the swing. Cindy scowled at him. She was wearing a pair of knee-length jean shorts and a pink button-up shirt that looked too big on her. Her hair was pulled back into pig tails that hung down to her shoulders. _

_ "Shut up, Short Stack." Cindy said. She snarled at him, revealing her recently tightened braces with purple rubber bands. _

_ "Actually, I've gotten taller. I bet I'm taller than you now." Jimmy smirked. _

_ "Oh yeah? Prove it." Cindy crossed her arms in challenge. _

_ Jimmy hopped up from his swing and stood face to face with her. He was looking right at her eyebrows while she was looking at his nose. _

_ "Ha! See? Taller!" He shouted, doing a little victory dance._

_ "You're still a geek." Cindy glared at him with all the hatred in her 12-year-old body. _

_ "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you from up here." Jimmy smiled smugly at her while he paused his dancing._

_ Cindy's eyebrow twitched and her fists clenched at her sides. She had her braces tightened that day. She was irritable enough. _

_ No one should mess with her when her braces were tightened._

_ "Then you'll just have to come down here." Cindy smirked and kicked him swiftly in the shin. _

_ "Ow!" Jimmy crouched down to hold his leg. _

_ "Serves you right." Cindy crossed her arms and headed for the jungle gym. It was always her favorite thing to play on as a small child, and she still took comfort in sitting at the top of the structure and looking out over the playground. _

_ "You're in a mood." Jimmy grumbled from the ground, looking up at Cindy's back as she climbed up the metal bars. _

_ "My mouth hurts." Cindy explained, still ticked off. _

_ "Well now my shin hurts."_

_ "Good." She declared as she reached the top. Her pink sneakers kicked lightly at the air below her._

* * *

Jimmy smiled at the memory. He and Cindy spent so much time together growing up. It was a wonder he hadn't fallen for her sooner. On some level, he thought, he had loved Cindy a long time ago. But their complicated situation helped to mask it.

"Jimmy? Did you stay in the lab last night, honey?" Jimmy looked up to see his mom watering her planter boxes on the stone wall around the patio.

"Yeah, I was working on something late last night." Jimmy nodded.

"Well, come in and have lunch with your father and I. We've hardly seen you lately, you've been spending so much time in the lab." Judy said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'd love to, Mom, but I still have more work to do."

"Even geniuses need to eat. Come inside. I made you a grilled cheese sandwich." She waved him into the house and he gladly followed her.

He was never one to pass up a grilled cheese.

* * *

"Hey, Neutron." Nick greeted. He was in a more sophisticated pair of jeans, no holes, and few grease stains, and another white t-shirt.

"Hi, Nick." Jimmy waved politely before looking around for his friends.

"Wheezer and Estaves are out back by the pool." Nick pointed down the driveway, which ended in a fenced in back yard. Jimmy could see his friends just beyond the gate.

"Thanks." Jimmy smiled and headed for the back yard.

"Hey, Jimmy." Carl said when he spotted him.

"Hi, guys." Jimmy quickly let himself in through the gate and looked around. Some people were in the pool, some were by the snack table on the patio, and some he could see were inside the house.

"Where's Libby?" Jimmy asked, shutting the gate behind him. He was sure there was a good reason it was latched, what it was, he was still unsure.

"Her and Cindy are inside. There's a bunch of music and dancing."

"Oh."

"What the hell happened last night, Man?" Sheen asked, motioning in the direction of the house. Jimmy assumed he meant Cindy.

"Nick wants to have sex with her tonight." Jimmy whispered, making sure he wasn't overheard.

"Whoa. That's a little fast." Carl said, glancing over Jimmy's shoulder at Nick. He was still in the front yard talking to Butch and Betty.

"Well on top of that, he thinks she's a virgin."

"What's she going to do?" Carl asked.

"That's why she called me last night. She didn't know what to do. I told her she just had to learn to say no to sex." Jimmy explained quietly.

"That lesson was not learned." Sheen smirked.

"No to sex with Nick." Jimmy hissed.

"You guys want a drink?" The three boys jumped and turned around to see Nick with his customary smirk on his face.

"I'm alright." Jimmy smiled politely.

"Well, Cindy's going to open her gifts soon." Nick pointed across the yard to a long table covered in gifts.

"Thanks for letting us know." Jimmy nodded as Nick left. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Hey, Jimmy." He turned and saw Libby and Cindy walking up to them. Libby was wearing a tasteful, strapless bathing suit top and a pair of jean shorts while Cindy was in her customary open weave sweater over her lime green halter suit.

"Hey, girls. Having fun?" Jimmy asked. He smelled a hint of alcohol on Libby's breath.

"Tons. Hey, Babe, wanna go make out?" Libby asked. Sheen smiled and took her hand and the couple practically ran to the house.

"Libby had a couple drinks." Cindy shrugged.

"Have you?"

"I'm not sure. Nick keeps bringing me stuff to drink. If they tasted like alcohol, I gave them to Libby." Cindy explained.

"Hm. Well, I think you're supposed to be opening some presents soon." Jimmy smirked.

"Oh, what'd you get me?" Cindy asked, excitedly. For every birthday since they started being nice to each other, Jimmy always gave her the best gifts. They always blew every other present out of the water. She still used the lighted mirror he gave her, and the laser pen. Mostly she used it against him.

Her favorite gift was the one around her neck. He took the pearl he gave her one year and took it to a store that strung it on a charm. The pearl was the center of a Hawaiian flower now, hung on a silver chain.

"You'll have to wait and find out."

"Hey! Babe! Come on!" Nick called from across the yard.

* * *

"That's from Carl and me." Sheen said when Cindy picked up a haphazardly wrapped box. She opened it and saw a light blue t-shirt that said 'Nerd? I prefer the term "more intelligent than you"', a dark purple sweat shirt that said 'I don't need your sass, I have plenty of my own', and a hoodie that said 'shut your' and had a musical scale with notes on the spaces, spelling 'face'.

"Aww, guys, these are awesome." Cindy laughed, holding up the t-shirt to look at it better.

"Like she needs another medium to mock people on." Jimmy scoffed.

"Hey, Geek-oid, read the shirt." Cindy said as she slipped into the hoodie.

The two made a faces at each other before she went back to choosing presents to open. She opened a pair of concert tickets from Libby, various trinkets from the people she didn't consider close friends, and an embarrassing black lingerie nighty from Nick.

"Thought that'd look great on you." Nick said as he winked.

"Right." Cindy laughed nervously and turned back to the table, but was surprised to see she had opened every present. She looked at Jimmy with concern.

"I didn't come empty handed. I just brought something I couldn't wrap up." Jimmy smirked and whistled. The crowd turned to see a small, mechanical dog flying up over the fence and landing on the ground.

"Come here, girl." Jimmy called, and the little thing came running over. She was smaller than Goddard, and more rounded than him as well. Her head was round with a nose sticking out from her face, and her body was comprised of two round orbs joined by a bendable tube, making her more flexible than Goddard as well.

"Jimmy, what did you do?" Cindy asked, kneeling down to get face to face with the mechanical pup.

"Well, I knew how upset you were about Humphry, and I thought she might cheer you up." Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck nervously as his face turned red in embarrassment.

"She's so cute." Cindy reached out to pet her metal head. "Thanks, Jimmy."

"No problem." Jimmy smiled a little, watching her bond with her new pet.

"Alright, everyone, cake in the kitchen!" Nick shouted over the crowd. Everyone made a mad dash for the house, nearly knocking Jimmy into the pool.

"Hey, Jimmy, that was really sweet of you." Cindy said, standing up.

"Yeah, well, I just thought it would make you happy." Jimmy shrugged and smiled.

"You're the best." Cindy rushed over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, yeah, I am the best." He blushed.

"Come on, I know how much you love cake." Cindy nodded her head towards the house and the two joined the rest of the party in the kitchen.

* * *

"Nick asked me to meet him up in his room." Cindy said abruptly. Jimmy was sitting by himself watching Sheen and Libby feed cake to each other and Carl trying to talk up a girl he recognized from history class.

"Did you say no?" Jimmy asked, taking a bite of his cake.

"He didn't give me a chance. Could you go up and say no for me?" Cindy asked apprehensively.

"You know why I can't do that, Cin." Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright." Cindy sighed. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Cin." Jimmy mumbled through a mouthful of cake. She rolled her eyes and turned towards the house.

At that moment, a very large pit bull came running out of the house. Jimmy knew Nick had a dog, he assumed it was locked up.

The only problem was that Cindy wasn't the biggest fan of big dogs.

And the dog was running straight at Cindy.

Jimmy could only watch as he jumped on her and the two tumbled into the pool with a bark and a shriek.

"Cindy!" Nick came running out of the house, shirtless. Jimmy sprung from his seat and met Nick at the edge of the pool. Cindy came up sputtering and coughing. Jimmy crouched down to pull her to the edge and lift her out of the water.

"Are you alright?" He asked, pushing her wet hair out of her face. She shook her head and continued coughing.

"I'm so sorry, Babe. Tank got out of my parent's room. Come on, let's get you upstairs to lie down." Nick reached out to put his arm around her and pull her gently towards the house.

"Nick, I think I should take her home." Jimmy said, his face still knit in concern.

"She'll be fine, Neutron." Nick said, but Cindy still continued to cough.

"She's soaking wet, she can barely breathe. I should take her home and get her into some dry clothes." Jimmy pointed out.

"I've got some shirts upstairs she can wear." Nick shrugged.

"I don't think she'll be comfortable with that." Jimmy argued, narrowing his eyes. Before Nick could respond, Cindy was running toward the house. Jimmy glared at Nick one more time before running after her. He looked around once he was inside, then heard the bathroom door slam. Jimmy rushed over to the door and knocked.

"Cindy?" He asked. He heard her throwing up.

"She'll be fine." Nick said, glaring at Jimmy.

"Do you hear that? She's not fine." Jimmy snapped.

"She just needs to go upstairs and lay down for a while."

"Would you let it go?" Jimmy asked angrily. "She doesn't want it from you. So would you do what's best for her and let her go home?"

"What does it matter to you what we do?" Nick asked, glaring at the shorter boy. Jimmy took a deep breath and looked around. They had drawn a crowd with their arguing.

"Because she's my best friend. I care about her. Something you obviously don't do." Jimmy growled. The bathroom door was flung open and Cindy stood there, mascara and tears running down her face.

"Babe?"

"Come on, Cin, I'll take you home." Jimmy started guiding her to the door with a hand on her back. He knew Sheen, Carl, and Libby were following them as well. He threw one last glare at Nick before they left the house.


	6. Chapter 6

"How you feeling, Cin?" Jimmy asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in Cindy's room.

"Better, thanks." She nodded slowly. She had changed into a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie that Jimmy thought looked like it belonged in his closet, but he let it go.

"Sheen and Carl are going to get your gifts from Nick's house." Jimmy explained. Cindy nodded again. She was curled up in her chair with her new pet on her lap.

"Thanks for sticking up for me." Cindy smiled weakly.

"Of course. I wasn't going to let him take advantage of you."

"Here, Girl." Libby came strutting into the room with a mug full of hot tea.

"Thanks Libs." Cindy happily accepted the mug and took a sip.

"I'm going to get my stuff from my house and be right back. We'll talk all night." Libby gave Cindy a side hug and left, her sandals flopping obnoxiously.

"Libby staying the night?" Jimmy asked, examining the books on the table.

"Yeah. Said she wants to bash Nick all night." Cindy smiled softly before taking another sip of her tea.

"Well he does deserve it. His dog tackled you into the pool and even after you were throwing up, he just wanted to get you into bed." Jimmy glared at the book cover in his hands. He felt such anger in himself that he wished he would have punched Nick in the face. He knew that would have been a horrible idea however, because Nick could probably kill him in one punch.

"I hate to say it, but you were right, Jimmy." Cindy sighed.

"Of course I was. I always am. Would you care to specify what you're referring to?" Jimmy smirked, opening the front cover of the book.

"I'm trying to give you a compliment, don't act like an ass." Cindy scowled at him. "You were right about Nick."

"Have you broken up with him yet?" Jimmy asked.

"Not yet. I don't really want to talk to him right now." Cindy sniffed.

"Are you alright?"

"Well, no. I thought Nick was so sweet. He just really wanted to get in my pants. I feel stupid." Cindy gently wiped at her eyes.

"You're not stupid. Here." Jimmy rushed over to her vanity and grabbed her box of tissues. She took one and dabbed at her eyes.

"I knew he wanted sex and stuff, I just thought he might actually care about me." Cindy sniffed.

"Hey, to hell with him. I care about you." Jimmy leaned over to hug her, feeling her petite body relax in his arms.

"Thanks, Jimmy. Could you do me a favor?" Cindy asked.

"Anything."

"Help me come up with a name for her?" Cindy asked, laughing a little.

"Oh, sure." Jimmy smiled, reaching over to pet the dog behind her ear. He missed when Goddard was new and shiny like that. But his trusty companion was the best invention he ever made. And he was curled up on Cindy's bed at the moment.

"I don't know what to name her. If I should name her after a scientist, or a singer, or a character, a superhero? Or a feminist." Cindy listed off, looking at the purple details on the dog. Her ears and the little ball at the end of her tail were purple, as well as most of her torso and paws. The rest of her was the same steely color Goddard was.

"What? Like name her Susan? Or Marie?"

"Hm. Or I could name her Diana?" Cindy asked. The dog in question seemed uninterested.

"What about after a Disney character? Like you." Jimmy asked. Cindy had confided in him a long time ago that her mom had named her 'Cynthia' but always had the intention of calling her Cindy, which was in tribute to 'Cinderella.' Cindy didn't hate it so much now as she did as a child.

"What, like name her after a princess?"

"Well, there's a lot."

"Thirteen."

"How do you know that?" Jimmy asked. Cindy kept up on pop culture a lot more than he did.

"Because I love all things Disney." Cindy smiled. Jimmy knew it was a common theme in the choir and theatre programs that they loved Disney movies, both of which Cindy was a part of.

"Or maybe a musical character?" Jimmy asked.

"Hm. Nancy." Cindy smirked. The dog lifted her head up.

"Nancy, huh?" Jimmy smiled at her.

"I think she likes it." Cindy laughed as the metal tail started wagging.

"I like it too." Jimmy laughed with her. "Here, I'll show you some of the features she has."

* * *

Cindy was curled up in her chair, surrounded by her friends. Jimmy was in the chair beside her, the two of them playing cards on the side table. Jimmy was currently losing, but anything could happen with a game of war.

Carl was on the bed reading one of Cindy's books. That was one thing that they bonded over. Both were very avid readers, while their other friends couldn't be bothered. Either they didn't like reading or were too busy to do so.

Sheen was sitting at the vanity while Libby put make-up on him. She loved makeovers, and no one else would do it. Sheen wasn't very happy about it either.

So Cindy was surprised when her window made a sound. No one was near the window.

Everyone's heads swiveled to the corner of the room when they saw something hit the window.

Cindy sighed and got up. She knew who it would be, and though she really wasn't ready to handle this, she hand no choice.

Once she was out on her balcony, she looked down and saw Nick, still in his greasy jeans and wet shirt.

"What do you want?" Cindy asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I wanted to ask you to come back to your party." Nick slurred.

"I'm not coming back." Cindy growled.

"Come on. Come party with me." Nick smiled. Cindy could almost smell the alcohol on him from up there.

"No. We're done, Nick. I thought you were sweet, but you're just a horny jack-ass like everyone says you are." Cindy said, still glaring at him. He didn't seem as phased as she had thought.

"Fine. I'll go see if Brittany wants to bang. She's not a prude like you." Nick scoffed. Cindy knew it was partially the alcohol, but she knew he wasn't lying. He didn't have the decency to spare her feelings at all.

Not that she cared.

"Great. I hope you, her, and your herpes have a great time." Cindy smirked. She'd heard rumors that he had caught something from a college girl, and though he had never confirmed it, he never denied it either.

"Wow, you really are a bitch." Nick glared back before turning and stumbling down the sidewalk towards his house. Cindy watched him go for a moment, still fuming. She was still angry when she climbed back through her window.

"You told him, girl!" Libby smiled, pausing her work on Sheen's hair.

"You alright, Cin?" Jimmy asked. Her anger faded as she processed the question. She thought so, at least before Nick had shown back up. Now she wasn't so sure. It wasn't the best relationship, but it was her first. That had to mean something.

"Cindy?" Jimmy asked again.

"I will be." Cindy nodded.

"Come on. I'll go make us some popcorn, we'll watch Fifty Shades of Grey, and trash talk that man-whore." Libby said, setting her tools down. "Come on, guys. I'm kicking you out."

"But I look like a chick." Sheen protested, but still he followed Libby out the door. Carl paused in the doorway, grabbed the book he had been reading off of the bedside table, and turned around.

"I'm going to borrow this, okay?" He asked. Cindy smiled and nodded.

"So I guess I'll see you later, then?" Jimmy asked, getting up from his seat. Goddard got up from his spot by Jimmy's feet to follow.

"Yeah. Thanks for everything tonight."

"No problem. Sorry you had a sucky birthday." Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck.

"It wasn't all bad. You guys made it better." Cindy smiled sadly, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"I'm glad we did. Well if you need anything, give me a call." Jimmy leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. He pulled back, blushing. Cindy's face was a similar shade of red.

"Right." She whispered. "Goodnight."

Jimmy leaned in again, but before he could get too close, someone called him.

"Jimmy! Let's go!" Sheen yelled. Jimmy sighed and hung his head.

"Goodnight, Cin." He settled for kissing her forehead before rushing out the door, leaving Cindy smiling and blushing.

* * *

"Don't stay up too late, Boys." Judy said as she and Hugh headed up the stairs. Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl were planted in the living room, playing some video game that Sheen had brought.

"We won't, Mom." Jimmy suppressed an eye roll. He knew his mom worried about his sleep habits.

"Ha! Take that, Sheen!" Carl shouted. He continued to push buttons at random.

"No, Carl, I'm Sonic." Sheen said, now battling Jimmy, who was playing Pikachu.

"Who am I?" Carl asked, glancing around the screen.

"Jiggly puff." Jimmy poked his tongue out as he countered Sheen's attack.

"The stupid pink thing?" Carl squinted at the screen.

"Yeah, that's you." Sheen laughed. He was awesome at Super Smash Bros. Carl hardly played, opting more for role-playing and strategy games. Jimmy didn't play video games often, but he was always good at them.

"Wow. I suck at this game." Carl mumbled to himself.

"Can we take a break? I'm starved." Jimmy said, setting his controller down. His stomach growled.

"How? There was so much food at the party." Sheen said, pausing the game and setting his own controller down.

"I didn't eat a lot of it. I only ate half my cake before Cindy fell into the pool. Let's order a pizza." Jimmy got up and started digging around for his cell phone.

"Why don't we just make pizza and save money?" Carl asked, getting up to stretch.

"Because the last time we did that, the pizza almost ate us." Jimmy glared over his shoulder as he pulled the pillows off of the couch. "Hey, one of you guys give me your phone. I can't find mine."

Sheen wordlessly handed over his phone. Jimmy unlocked it and called his number, but he didn't hear any ringing in the room. He was surprised when someone answered.

_"Hello?"_ It was Cindy.

"Cindy?" He asked, eyes flicking to the window.

_"I think you forgot your phone, geek-oid."_

"I can tell. Hold on, I'm coming to get it." Jimmy stepped into his shoes and reached for his hoodie.

_ "No need. Just open your front door."_ She hung up the phone and Jimmy stared at Sheen's cell, confused. He opened the front door and Nancy came flying in, holding his cell phone in her mouth.

"Oh. Thanks, Nancy. Good girl." He pat her head and took the phone out of her mouth before she flew back to her home across the street.

"Here you go." Jimmy handed the phone back to Sheen while he opened his phone. His background was changed to a picture of Cindy and Libby making funny faces. And he saw that his phone was now full of pictures of the two girls.

"Uh, Jim? Pizza?" Carl asked. Jimmy looked up from his cell phone.

"Right."

* * *

Jimmy woke up on the floor of the living room. There was half a pizza, still in the box, sitting on the coffee table. Carl was sprawled out on the couch, snoring loudly, and Sheen was curled up in the arm chair. Jimmy had planned to head up to his own bed, but after putting a pillow and blanket on the floor, he found that he was too tired.

He glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly two in the morning. He could go up to bed now that he was awake enough.

Jimmy thought about waking up Sheen and telling him to go sleep in the guest room instead of crammed into the chair, but he decided against it. Sheen was cranky when he got woken up. And he knew Carl didn't like the mattress in the guest room because it was too soft and hurt his back.

He slowly made his way upstairs with Goddard schlepping along behind him. He could hear his dad snoring in his parent's room.

"Goodnight, Goddard." Jimmy yawned as he crawled into bed. Goddard curled up at the foot of it on his own bed. He was happily curled up in bed when his phone lit up. It was a text from Cindy.

_I'm crashing guy's night. Any pizza left?_

Jimmy smiled and texted back a short 'yes' and cuddled back into his pillow.

After a few minutes, he heard the front door open and small feet creeping up the stairs.

"Hey." Cindy whispered as she snuck through his bedroom door. She shut it quietly behind her and tip-toed over to his bed.

"Hey, you." He mumbled, his voice horse.

"Sorry to come over so late. I got hungry and Libby was asleep." Cindy sat down in front of him. He stretched his arms out to her and she easily cuddled into them.

"It's fine. I just got up. I fell asleep on the floor in the living room." Jimmy rubbed his eyes and blinked to adjust to the light in his room.

"Why aren't the guys sleeping up here in the bed?" Cindy asked around a slice of pizza

"Because boys don't do that. It's weird." Jimmy explained, scooting back to lean against the headboard. He nestled Cindy between his legs and wrapped his arms around her middle.

"Why is it weird? Libby and I sleep in the same bed." Cindy took another bite.

"Because it is. Besides, you and I hardly fit in my bed." Jimmy leaned over her shoulder to take a bite of her pizza, which was cold now.

"I won't stay long. Just wanted to come eat something."

"You know you can stay if you want." Jimmy leaned his head against hers.

"Jimmy," She sighed, "I can't. I want to, but Libby doesn't know anything."

"Do you really want to stay?" He asked, nuzzling into her neck.

"Of course." She tilted her head to the side to give him better access. He kissed her neck lightly.

"Then stay, Cin. You're more than welcome. And you can be back before Libby wakes up."

"Yeah, alright. You convinced me." She smirked. Jimmy ran one of his hands through her hair and the other down the front of her shirt until he got to the hem, then he worked his way back up under her shirt.

"I've missed you lately." He mumbled against her neck.

"I missed you, too. Nick was a really dominating kisser. I hated it." She sighed, turning to look at him. He rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Well I know how much you like being in charge." He smirked, lifting his head to kiss his temple.

"You love it when I'm in charge and you know it." She tilted her head back as his hand slipped under her bra. She hummed in pleasure.

Jimmy moved back to her neck, kissing it lightly, being careful not to leave any marks. He tugged on her earlobe and his hot breath sent chills down her spine. She ran her hands down his legs that were framing hers.

Cindy moved her hands high enough to graze the zipper of his jeans behind her back, which got her a soft moan. He slowly pulled one of his hands from her shirt and softly touched her inner thigh. She squirmed against him.

"You're teasing me." He mumbled, grinding slightly against her back. Cindy smirked and turned around, letting his other hand fall from her shirt, and straddled his legs. He rested his hands on her bare thighs, gently caressing the skin with his thumbs. She rubbed at him slowly.

"Well you're teasing me." She smirked.

"Fair enough." Jimmy reached for the waistband of her shorts and pulled.

* * *

Jimmy woke up with Cindy cuddled in his arms, both of them still nude. They had both been too tired to get dressed last night. They talked for a while about anything and everything.

The sunlight was streaming into the room, and he squinted against it, burying his face in Cindy's hair. She sighed quietly.

"Hey, Cin, you up?" He whispered. Cindy blinked a few times before rolling over to face him.

"What time is it?" She asked, closing her eyes again.

"Eight." Jimmy said, looking at the bedside clock.

"Shit. Libby might know I'm gone by now." Cindy propped herself up on her elbow.

"She does." The couple turned to see their friends standing by the door, their faces full of raised eyebrows, smirks, and knowing eyes.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jimmy asked as she sat up.

"I came looking for Cindy. Sheen and Carl suggested I would find you here." Libby said, crossing her arms.

"Uh, I can explain this." Cindy said nervously. She was clutching the blankets to her chest.

"Then get to explaining." Libby said.

"Could I explain once I get dressed?" Cindy asked.

"Hey, wait, aren't my parents home?" Jimmy asked, eyes widening in panic.

"They went grocery shopping." Carl shrugged.

"Then get out of my room and wait downstairs." Jimmy glared at his best friends. The trio filed out of the room and shut the door.

"No morning sex!" Sheen shouted through the door.

"I am so sorry, Cindy." Jimmy turned to her. She put her hand on her forehead, probably nursing a headache.

"It's not really your fault. Let's just get dressed and go downstairs. This is going to be a bitch to explain to them." Cindy sighed.

"Actually, Sheen and Carl know." Jimmy admitted.

"You told them?" She asked angrily.

"After it was all over. Right before you came over to talk to me after I said, uh, what I did." Jimmy explained hastily.

"Shit. I forgot all about that after everything else that happened. Do you still feel that way?"

"Can we not talk about that right now?" Jimmy asked as he got out of bed and searched for his boxers.

"Well it's kind of important." Cindy glared at him while she hooked her bra behind her back.

"Cindy, listen, I care for you very deeply. That doesn't have to change anything." He leaned across the bed and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "But we don't have to talk about my feelings right now."

"Fine." Cindy grumbled, grabbing her shorts and slipping them on.

Once the two were dressed and hair was made acceptable, the two rushed downstairs. Sheen, Carl, and Libby were seated around the kitchen table. Sheen and Carl were very comfortable in the Neutron household, and Sheen had made coffee already while Carl had a glass of orange juice.

"Alright you two. Park it." Libby pointed to the two empty chairs. "When did this happen?"

"Specifically what?" Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow. Cindy smacked his arm but he ignored it.

"This whole you two sleeping together thing." Libby motioned with her hands at the two of them.

"Uh, well the fooling around started a year or so ago. During Mid-term week before Christmas break." Jimmy explained, sneaking a side glance at Cindy.

"The first time we had sex was last October. It just sort of happened." Cindy added on.

* * *

_ "Ugh, I hate her!" Cindy shrieked as she entered the lab. Jimmy didn't look up from his microscope._

_ "Which her are you referring to, Vortex?" He asked, sounding disinterested. _

_ "Mrs. White. She gave me a B on my paper because she didn't agree with my thesis." Cindy huffed, sitting down on the couch. _

_ "Well can't you re-write it?" Jimmy asked, finally turning around on his stool. _

_ "Yeah. Will you read over it when I'm done?" She asked quietly. She hated having to re-write papers. She spent so long perfecting them the first time. _

_ "Sure." Jimmy nodded. He looked between his work bench and her on the couch. "Hey, uh, I was talking with Sheen earlier and, uh, I think they're something I want to try." Jimmy said, a blush creeping to his face._

_ "What?" Cindy asked suspiciously. _

_ "Well he told us about some sex things he'd seen online, and there was this thing called denial, and I kind of want to try it." _

_ "If it's some freaky-weird shit that moron is totally into, I swear-"_

_ "No, no. Nothing freaky." Jimmy said worriedly. "It's just that you uh, you tease the guy and keep doing stuff to him, but you don't let him orgasm for a while. It's supposed to be a really good and intense feeling." He explained nervously. Cindy glared at him for a moment._

_ "What do I get out of this?" She asked._

_ "Whatever you want, after I'm done. I'll do whatever you feel like doing." He said, his blood already rushing down._

_ "Fine. Get over here." Cindy stood up and moved to pull the bed out of the couch._

_ "You're the best, Cindy." Jimmy pulled the goggles off of his head and shoved the lab coat off before running over to her. He placed a kiss to her temple before flopping down on the mattress. _

_ Cindy crawled over him silently and kissed him softly and passionately. He moaned into her mouth, already feeling his jeans grow tighter. Cindy reached down and grasped him through his jeans and he hissed._

_ "Feel good?" She asked, softly rubbing him through his jeans. _

_ "Real good." Jimmy nodded. Cindy let go of him and stood up to shed all of her clothes. She moved to straddle him again and he reached for her breasts. She smacked his hand._

_ "You can't use your hands." She said._

_ "Well that's really not fair." He scowled at her, but it faded when she started undoing his belt._

_ She quickly undid it and unbuttoned his pants as well. She unzipped them and put her hand down his jeans, resting it over his hard member. He shuddered._

_ "Did I ever tell you that you're amazing?" Jimmy asked, breathless._

_ "You could stand to mention it more." She smirked, gently rubbing him. "Take off your clothes." She demanded, getting off of his lap. He quickly tore his clothing off and threw it on the floor, not caring where it landed. Once he was nude, Cindy climbed back over him._

_ Cindy leaned down and kissed him, deeply and passionately. Their tongues fought for dominance, but Cindy always won. He gently rested his hands on her lower back, but she smacked them away._

_ "You're a tease." He said as she pulled back._

_ "That's the point." She smirked._

_ Cindy sucked and touched and rubbed and licked him all over for another half an hour before he was panting and whimpering for her touch. She rubbed her wet center against his hardness, which sent a jolt of excitement down to her lower abdomen. She did it a few more times, enjoying the pleasure it gave her._

_ "Alright, you ready for me to take care of this for you?" Cindy asked._

_ "If you don't do it, I'll do it myself." He panted. Cindy smirked and grasped him. He gasped._

_ "Fuck." He breathed. He felt so sensitive and he could hardly stop himself from bucking up into her hand. He didn't last much longer, but it was so mind-blowing that he thought he would black out._

_ "How'd that feel?" Cindy asked, reaching for a tissue on the table._

_ "That was amazing." He panted. "Just give me a minute." _

_ Cindy smirked and lay on her side beside him. He took a few minutes to catch his breath and clean up before turning to her._

_ "Your turn." He said, reaching for her. He leaned in to kiss her while his hand went down to play with her. He pushed two fingers into her easily and moved them around inside of her. _

_ Cindy threw her head back and screamed almost silently. She couldn't get the sound out, but she kept making small noises still. He kept playing with her, leaving her legs trembling and so hot that tears sprung to her eyes._

_ "Hey, you alright? Did I hurt you?" Jimmy asked, pulling his fingers from her core. She whimpered and tried to rut against something. Anything._

_ "I want you." She panted, a tear escaping her eye._

_ "What do you want me to do?" He asked._

_ "I. Want. You." She said slowly. His eyes widened in realization. _

_ "I-I don't have protection." He said, shaking his head. Cindy reached for her jeans on the floor and pulled a foil packet out of her pocket._

_ "Was this your plan?" He asked, reaching for it._

_ "I've had one with me the last five times now just in case." She panted._

_ "This might hurt, Cin." He said, running his hands over her abdomen. _

_ "I know. But I'm ready." She said, pushing the last of the few tears off of her face._

_ "Alright. I'll be gentle." He kissed her forehead and positioned himself. Cindy wrapped himself around him and took a deep breath._

_ "Go ahead." She said, nodding. Jimmy pushed into her slowly and she dug her nails so deep into his shoulder that it drew blood._

_ "Shhh. You're ok." Jimmy soothed, kissing her forehead over and over. "Just tell me if you want to stop._

_ "I'll be alright. Just don't move." She said, resting her forehead against his shoulder. Libby had told her about her first time and how it didn't hurt like she thought it would, and Cindy had hoped she'd be the same way._

_ Jimmy continued peppering her with kisses and whispering to her, and after a while, she felt alright as the pain subsided. It didn't go completely away, but it wasn't as strong as it had been. _

_ "Move." She mumbled against his collarbone. He pushed further into her, trying to ignore her clawing nails until he was fully in her._

_ "Are you alright?" He asked, looking down at her pained face._

_ "I will be in a sec." She breathed. The two sat still for a few moment, Cindy trying not to hurt herself and Jimmy trying not to lose control. He knew she was in pain, and that hurt him too, but she felt better than he ever would have imagined. _

_ "Go ahead and move." She said. He started slowly pulling out and pushing into her, trying not to hurt her and trying to last longer himself. _

_ "Move faster." She demanded, and Jimmy smirked. He picked up his pace and her legs hooked tighter around his hips. He felt her clench around him as she screamed and he kissed her temple. He could feel his own climax building in the pit of his stomach while she panted, coming down from her high._

_ "Jimmy." She groaned against him, and he lost all control. Spots danced across his vision and he heard his pulse in his ears, pounding. His hips slowed and he tried to catch his breath._

_ "Are you alright, Cindy?" He asked, breathless._

_ "For now." She said, finally catching her own breath. Jimmy pulled out and rolled to lay beside her when he noticed that she had blood on her thighs and he had some on his lower regions._

_ "Here, Cin." He reached for a tissue and held it to her center. "The bleeding should stop in a minute."_

_ "Thanks." Cindy reached to hold the tissue herself, and went to get cleaned up. "You're not allowed to tell your idiot friends that you lost your virginity." Cindy called to him while he got dressed._

_ "Wouldn't dream of it." He said as he buttoned his shirt._

* * *

"And after that, it just became a regular occurrence." Jimmy blushed, wringing his hands nervously.

"So are you two like a couple?" Libby asked, glancing between the two of them.

"No." They answered simultaneously, shaking their heads.

"Well so what are you if you're screwing and spending the night at each other's houses and stuff?"

"Friends with benefits." Cindy explained, glancing up at Jimmy.

"I can't believe you guys lied to us about this." Libby glared at Jimmy. He was sure she was mad at him for hurting Cindy.

"Well we didn't want anyone to know." Cindy explained, crossing her arms.

"We're supposed to be intellectuals. How would it look if people found out our study and homework sessions actually were composed of very little school work?" Jimmy asked, rubbing his hands nervously on his pant legs.

"Wait, wait." Libby said, looking back at Carl and Sheen. "So every time you've said you guys have a school project, it's been you two having sex?" She asked.

"For the most part." Cindy nodded.

"When you couldn't go to the movies because you guys were working on an English paper?" Libby asked.

"Yes."

"When you couldn't go to retro-land because you had to clean the lab?" Sheen asked.

"Yes." Jimmy answered.

"When you had a big calculus test and couldn't come to the zoo to see the llamas with me?" Carl asked.

"Yes and No. Originally I was studying, at least for a while. Until Cindy came over and then we had sex." Jimmy explained, blushing.

"I can't believe you never told me." Libby leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"It's been hard not telling you. We've almost been caught by you guys a couple of times. Like on the ski trip, Libby you almost walked in on us." Cindy said, looking around the table.

"Yeah, and last week, you two nearly caught us. That bra in the lab was Cindy's." Jimmy pointed to Cindy beside him.

"But now you all know." Cindy said hastily.

"So we don't have to hide it anymore." Jimmy added.

"Girl, we need to talk. You can have her back later, Jimmy." Libby reached across the table and grabbed Cindy's hand. The girls left through the back door, letting it slam behind them.

Jimmy looked at his two friends across the table, wide-eyed and staring at him.

"Alright, go ahead." Jimmy sighed.

"Is she hot?"

"What's it like?" Carl asked.

Jimmy sighed.

"Yes, Cindy is very attractive. And it feels good. And very sweaty." Jimmy explained.

"Is she good at it?" Sheen asked, taking a sip of his coffee. Jimmy doubted that he needed the caffeine.

"She's very good at it. Can we be done now?" Jimmy asked, getting up to get his own cup of coffee. "You guys know I really don't like talking about my sex life."

"Up until last week, we didn't know you had a sex life." Sheen said, getting up to get more coffee.

"Well that was the point." Jimmy sat back down with a huff. He felt exhausted. "We didn't want anyone to know, but now you all know, so let's just move on with our lives and pretend Cindy and I aren't having sex."

"Oh come on, I finally have someone to talk to about it." Sheen sat back down on the bench. "I haven't had anyone to swap stories with."

"I feel left out." Carl said quietly.

"Don't worry, Carl. It'll happen for you. You just have to meet the right girl." Jimmy reached out and put a hand on Carl's shoulder.

"Let's order another pizza." Sheen said, reaching for his cell phone.

"Oh, Elke's coming for her yearly visit." Carl suddenly perked up when he remembered that his pen pal was coming.

"Wait. We can't talk about girls anymore until we have pizza and sodas." Sheen said, dialing a number on his phone.

* * *

"It's always amazing, Libs. He really knows what he's doing. There's a whole lot of anatomy in that big brain of his." Cindy said before taking a sip of her warm tea.

"So how does it usually start?" Libby asked excitedly.

"There's nothing usual about it. Sometimes I sneak into his room at night, or sometimes when it's been a few days, we're on each other as soon as we step into the door. And other times one of us just starts crawling all over the other one." Cindy explained, looking out her bedroom window at the house across the street.

"Well is it like a passionate thing or is it like a 'hey, I'm bored, let's bang' kind of thing?" Libby scooted closer in her chair.

"It's always passionate." Cindy rolled her eyes and laughed. Libby was beyond thrilled to be able to talk about sex with her best friend.

"So do you love him?" She asked, smirking over her tea cup.

Cindy sighed. She did. She always had. And he loved her back. But he said he didn't want to be in love with her. He didn't want anything to change.

"No. No that'd be a disaster." She said, chuckling and rolling her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"This is stupid. We come to France, home of smelly cheese and rude people and you drag us to a museum." Sheen crossed his arms while glaring at a painting.

"I didn't drag you anywhere, Sheen. But you should learn to appreciate this stuff." Jimmy sighed, looking over a different painting. Melting clocks. Interesting.

"This is the most magnificent museum in the world. These statues are stunning." Cindy said, looking at a statue, highlighted by spot lights.

"Hey! That one has tits." Sheen headed a little further away from the group to ogle at a topless statue.

"That is not the point of art." Jimmy sighed and shook his head. "Don't touch anything, Sheen!"

"I'd love to see the Mona Lisa." Cindy stood next to him and stared at the same painting. "I like this one."

"It's a famous painting by Salvador Dali, called the Persistence of Memory-"

"Painted in 1931." Cindy finished. Jimmy glared at her. "Glaring won't make me less right."

"Let's go see the Mona Lisa." Jimmy grabbed her elbow and headed for the next exhibit.

"We're out of here. I'm starving. Meet up in a few hours at the Eifel tower?" Sheen asked, looking over his map. Carl took it from his hands, turned it right-side up, and put it back in Sheen's hands.

"Sure. You have your French dictionary?" Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow. Sheen was great with Spanish. He sucked with French.

"I have it." Libby pat her shoulder bag.

"Good. Have fun." Cindy waved as Jimmy steered her towards the next room where the Mona Lisa was. She was surrounded by tourists, all in awe.

"You think there's somewhere we can go that's not full of people?" Cindy asked, feeling his hand trail down her arm to gently hold her wrist.

"I think that there are some areas that have less people. This is the most popular exhibit, though, so it's the most crowded." Jimmy craned his neck to look over the crowd.

"No, I meant somewhere we can be alone?" She mumbled, pulling him down to put her mouth closer to his ear. His eyes flashed with realization.

"Now? We're in the middle of a busy city." Jimmy pointed out, blushing.

"That's the point, Neutron. We're in Paris. The most romantic city in the world. Don't you want to say you've done it in Paris?" She asked, whispering and mouthing at his ear. He whined softly.

"Please don't do this to me." He mumbled, already feeling a stirring in his groin. "I'd rather not have an erection in public."

"Let's split. We can come back and see the Louvre any time." Cindy suggested, stepping back a bit.

"Where would we go?" Jimmy asked, taking her hand and heading back towards the exit. She was right. He had the hover car. They could see the city next weekend. Of course, every time they tried to see the city, it ended in sex. Or started in sex.

Paris turned them on.

"Push comes to shove, we just do it in the hover car." Cindy shrugged, avoiding the crowds of people.

"Why don't we go somewhere else? We could go anywhere in the world. If you wanted to have sex on top of the Great Wall of China, we could." Jimmy said, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"I'm sure there's somewhere in the city we can go." Cindy took a deep breath as they stepped outside into the fresh air, away from all the people.

"Hey, this might sound weird, but what about a sex club?" Jimmy asked after a moment. He knew they existed in Paris, it was the city of love and he had seen different ones online.

"One of those places where people have orgies?" Cindy asked skeptically.

"Well we don't have to have one. We can just have sex." Jimmy shrugged. He admitted, it wasn't his best idea, but it seemed like a better, and more comfortable, than a back seat.

"You're crazy. Besides, don't you have to be twenty-one to get into one of those places?" Cindy asked, pulling him down the street towards the parking lot.

"Goddard can spit out fake IDs easy. And it's not like we're going to drink or anything." Jimmy said. He was starting to like the idea more and more, and his crotch was starting to grow warm.

"Do you hear what you're saying right now? That you want to go to a place where people specifically go to have kinky sex?" Cindy asked, raising her eyebrows.

"They clean the places. It sounds better than driving around the city trying to find a dark alley or a semi-clean public restroom." Jimmy reached into his pocket for the hover car keys. Cindy glared at him for a moment before reaching for the passenger door.

"It's a stupid idea, Neutron." She decided, throwing open the car door and getting inside the car. Jimmy went around to his side, got in, slammed the door, but didn't start the car.

"So what? We're just going to sit here?" She asked, crossing her arms. Jimmy suddenly leaned over and kissed her roughly, his tongue invading her mouth, not even allowing her the chance to fight for dominance. He reached up under her shirt and gave her breasts a few squeezes, which made her shudder, before pulling back to take a deep breath.

"That convince you?" He asked, panting. Cindy nodded vigorously.

"Sex club it is." She panted. Goddard barked in the back seat.

* * *

"Les Chandelles, huh?" Cindy asked, looking around the red plush room. Dim candles and the smell of fancy champagne and chocolate flooded her senses.

"I looked online. This one was listed as one of the best in the city." Jimmy shrugged, toeing his shoes off.

"How long can we stay here for?" She asked.

"I don't know." Jimmy shrugged, desperately trying to get his hoodie off. They had Goddard make them fake IDs, paid 20 euros to get in and have a room, and ate a plate of chocolate covered strawberries already. He was more than ready to be in the bed with Cindy. "I don't care either."

"I can't believe he made us give up our phones. What if Libby calls? Or my mom?" She asked, pulling her t-shirt off over her head, leaving her in a white tank-top and black shorts with white polka dots.

"They're serious about the no photos thing." Jimmy explained. He pulled his socks off and pulled at his t-shirt. Once he was just in his jeans, he couldn't stop himself from tackling Cindy onto the bed.

"Watch it, Geek-oid." She glared at him, but still she ran her hands down his chest and unbuttoned his pants quickly.

"This needs to come off." Jimmy untucked her tank top and pushed it over her head. She arched her back to help him. He felt her fingers pulling his zipper down. He hastily undid her shorts and pulled them down her legs, forcing her to let go of his pants. He let them fall down his legs and he stepped out of them before crawling back over Cindy.

"You're hard already." She pointed out. She emphasized her statement by reaching down to give his member a quick squeeze. He hissed and bucked into her hand.

"Yeah? Well you're wet already." Jimmy smirked, one hand trailing down to brush against her thighs.

"Because you've been teasing me since we got in the damn car." She panted, trying to get some friction going. Jimmy leaned down and kissed her again, hot tongues moving against each other. He moved his hands to her bra clasp.

"Sorry. It's just been a week since we've gotten any time at all." Jimmy detached himself to throw her bra somewhere and move down to her breasts, taking a nipple between his teeth.

The two of them had been busy all week, and no time after school meant no free time spent in the lab. The two of them were getting desperate. Jimmy had even called her in the middle of the night because he needed release so badly and they talked dirty until he didn't think he could possibly come anymore.

"Fuck." Jimmy breathed as he pushed into Cindy. It didn't take them much foreplay before they were desperate and whimpering. Cindy had grabbed a condom from his pants pocket and he put it on and groaned in anticipation. He stayed still in her for a moment, not wanting to finish too soon.

"Please move, Jimmy, please, please." Cindy threw her head back against the mattress and dug her heals into the plush red comforter, trying to move under him. She was nearly in tears over the need for release.

Jimmy took a deep breath and started to move in and out of her. Every time they did this, he couldn't believe how amazing it felt. She felt so warm and tight, yet fluid around him. She came undone so easily in his arms and he loved the feeling of it. He loved feeling her smooth skin under his palms, loved feeling her hot breath on his body, and loved feeling her clench around him with her climax.

He thought how much he really loved her while she panted, her body trying to come down from its high.

And he felt his own climax as the feeling rocketed through his body.

* * *

"Where have you two been?" Libby asked, crossing her arms as Jimmy and Cindy approached them under the Eiffel tower.

"Yeah, it's been four hours." Sheen complained, looking at his phone to check the time.

"The Louvre was really busy. And we wanted to see everything." Cindy lied. She would tell Libby what really happened later, but she didn't want to hear their reactions in public.

"You two are so boring. Let's go to the top of this thing." Sheen said, looking up. "I heard that if you drop a penny from up there, and it landed on someone, it would kill them."

"Actually, Sheen, that's the Empire State Building. And with the wind and the building swaying, it would hit the wall and disrupt its momentum on the way down." Jimmy explained, following Sheen's gaze. It looked like it was going to rain soon.

"Maybe we should start heading home. The sky looks really dark." Carl said, worry evident in his voice.

"We could go somewhere else. Spain? Panama?" Libby asked, looking up at the sky as well.

"Oh, I can't eat spicy foods." Carl shook his head.

"Let's just get in the hover car and head home. We can go to the Candy Bar or something." Jimmy shrugged.

"Sounds good to me, let's go." Sheen said, the thought of candy exciting him. The group rushed down the street to the car just as it started pouring.

* * *

"Thanks, Sam." Cindy said as he set the tray of milkshakes in front of the teens. Sheen dove for his first.

"Easy, Sheen, you'll get a headache." Libby said gently as Sheen sucked his chocolate milkshake through the straw.

"How did you like that book, Carl?" Cindy asked, stirring her milkshake with her straw, the cherry sinking down into the pink drink.

"It was interesting. I like a strong female character like Bennie. Do you have any more books about her?" Carl asked, using his straw as a spoon to eat some of his thick milkshake.

"I have all the books about her. I'll bring you the next one." Cindy nodded enthusiastically. Jimmy enjoyed watching her talk about things she loved. Her face always lit up brighter than the sun.

"Awesome. Thanks. Did you like the series I lent you?" Carl asked.

"I haven't finished it yet. Third book. But I love it. I've never been big into science fiction, but this one is great." Cindy smiled. Jimmy remembered the stack of books on her table. He should have realized they were Carl's.

"You guys are so boring. Who reads anymore?" Sheen asked, picking the cherry off of his milkshake and feeding it to Libby.

"Reading is a form of escapism, Sheen. And it helps to boost intelligence." Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"What are these books even about anyways? You guys are always trading and stuff." Libby asked.

"The one I lent Carl is about a lawyer named Bennie. She and her long-time boyfriend have a law firm together, and he decides to dissolve it and dump her. Then the next day he's dead and she has an un-confirmable alibi, so the police think she did it." Cindy explained, then took a small sip of her drink.

"And the series I lent Cindy is about a group of 9 aliens who are sent to Earth when their plant was destroyed because they have special and important powers. Each of them have a guardian, and they're hiding because the alien race that destroyed their planet is trying to kill them and take over earth." Carl nodded.

"That all sounds boring. I think I'll pass." Sheen said, starting to take another sip. The teens were quiet for a moment while they all enjoyed their drinks. Carl looked up as the bells above the door rang.

Nick Dean and a group of his friends strode in.

"Uh, Cindy, don't turn around." He said in a hushed tone. Cindy knit her brow in confusion, but Jimmy glanced over her shoulder towards the door. His eyes narrowed to a glare.

"What?" Cindy asked, turning to him. Her ponytail swished around her head.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Jimmy shook his head and turned back to the table. "You guys want to head out? We can go back to my house and play games or something."

"What is it?" Cindy turned and saw the group approaching the counter. Brittany was tucked under Nick's arm. "Guys, I'm fine."

"You sure, Cin?" Libby reached across the table and took Cindy's hand in hers.

"I'm sure, guys. I'm over it." Cindy shook her head and let go of her friend's hand to lift up her drink.

"Cindy! Libby!" The group turned and saw Brittany standing by their table, her obnoxious voice hanging in the air.

"What do you want, Brittany?" Libby asked, glaring at the blond.

"Just wanted to let you two know I'm having a party this Friday. Thought you two would like to come. Sorry, boys, I'd invite you, but you're not cool." Brittany waved them off.

"As much as we appreciate the offer, Brittany, I have the Academics Competition Friday night." Cindy said politely. She gently poked at her drink with her straw.

"Oh, that's lame." Brittany shrugged.

"Hey, Babe." Nick strode over and slung an arm around Brittany's shoulders. Jimmy glared.

"Hey yourself." Brittany popped her gum.

"Uh, Cin, didn't we have homework to do?" Jimmy asked, looking over at her gently.

"No." She shook her head, confusion flicking across her face. Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"Yes we do, come on." Jimmy gently nudged her and the two of them filed out of the booth, heading for the door without a word.

"Are they coming? You're their ride." Cindy said as they stepped out into the warm sunshine.

"They can walk, let's just go." Jimmy put a hand on the small of her back and led her towards the parking lot. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.

"What are these for?" She asked, pausing where the side walk ended and the parking lot began.

"Let's go wherever you want to go."

* * *

"This is where you wanted to go?" Jimmy asked as he stepped out into the cold and foggy air. He didn't know how high up they were, but based on the fog, he guessed pretty high.

"It's quiet." Cindy shrugged as she shut the driver's side door. She paused to take a deep breath of mountain air.

"It's freezing. Wish you would have warned me." Jimmy crossed his arms over his chest and stepped up beside her.

"You'll live. We won't stay long." Cindy shook her head.

"So why here?"

"Because it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. My parents and I, when I was little, would come to Gatlinburg every summer. We stopped when I was in sixth grade because they couldn't stand to be in the same car for twelve hours." She stepped up to the railing and leaned on it, looking out over the mountains, or what she could see of them.

"I'm sorry." Jimmy mumbled.

"For what?" Cindy turned around and blinked.

"I don't know." Jimmy shook his head and stepped forward. "Because your parents don't get along I guess." He took her into his arms and joined her in looking at the mountains.

"It's alright. Did you want to go study for the Academic Competition?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Sure." He shrugged, but the two of them didn't move. They stayed and watched the fog roll over the tree tops.

* * *

"You thirsty, Cin?" Jimmy asked as they walked into the lab. He hit the button on the wall and the table flipped up to reveal the ladder.

"No, I'm good. I could go for one of those cookies though." Cindy said as she started down the ladder. She knew he had a stash in the lab.

"I'll join you with that." Jimmy smirked and followed her down the ladder. He hopped down right after her and noticed her standing beside him, looking out at the open room. "What's wrong?"

"Them." She pointed towards the living area where Sheen, Libby, and Carl were sitting on the floor in front of the folded up couch, playing a card game. Goddard and Nancy were curled up together on the couch.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jimmy asked.

"Crashing your date." Carl shrugged, picking up a card.

"We were going to study." Jimmy defended, blushing. "It's not a date."

"How did you guys even get in here?" Cindy asked, hands on her hips. She knew it wasn't her lab, but she had gotten comfortable there and didn't appreciate them sneaking into her second home.

Like it was his second home.

She paused and looked around, realizing that they spent so much time together in the lab, not just having sex. They sat around, they studied, they did homework, they tested inventions. She spent more time in the lab than she did at home, even slept there at least once a week. And Jimmy was there more than she was. They both practically lived there.

They practically lived there together.

"Cin? You alright?" She tore her attention away from the work bench and looked over at Jimmy, who was holding two cookies; one whole, one half eaten.

"Yeah, sorry, I spaced out." She shook her head and took the cookie from him. "Thanks."

"Please don't break into the lab anymore. I have delicate experiments in here." Jimmy sighed as he headed over to his work bench. His papers were scattered across the top and he knew he should organize them, but he was more concerned that his afternoon was being interrupted.

"You two left without us. We thought you might be here." Libby shrugged and laid her hand down on the floor. "Full house." She said.

"Aw! I thought I was going to win that one." Sheen laid down his pair of aces.

"Too bad. You owe me." Libby smirked.

"Cool. I like owing you." Sheen leaned over and gave Libby a quick peck on the cheek. He continued to kiss her face while she giggled until their lips met and the card game was completely forgotten.

"If you two are going to engage in sexual intercourse, please don't do so in my lab." Jimmy sighed as he shuffled his papers around. He knew the list of subjects was around somewhere.

"Why not? This place is sex central. This room has seen more sex than Hugh Heffner's bedroom." Sheen scoffed, laying back on the rug. Libby crawled up beside him and rested her head and hand on his chest. Sheen put one hand behind his head and one arm snaked around Libby.

"There has not been that much sex." Cindy rolled her eyes. She reached over Jimmy's shoulder and grabbed the sheet he knew he was looking for. He took it from her hand and threw a short glare over his shoulder.

"How many times have you guys done it, anyways?" Sheen propped himself up on his elbows, Libby mirroring him but sideways. Cindy's eyes darted briefly to the bulletin board on the other side of the lab for a brief moment. It was mostly covered with scrap papers with formulas written on them or various sketches of new inventions. But there was also a calendar.

"You two probably keep a calendar." Carl laughed to himself, Sheen and Libby chuckling with him until they realized Jimmy and Cindy weren't laughing.

"Oh my god, you guys keep a calendar." Libby said, smile growing slightly. "Where is it?"

"I want to see it!" Sheen excitedly jumped to his feet, the zipper on his hoodie jingling. "Where do you hide it?"

"We don't have a calendar." Jimmy groaned, running his hand through his hair.

"You're an awful liar, Jim." Carl called from the floor. He didn't particularly care about the frequency of their sex. But it was kind of funny seeing them flustered.

"I think this is it!" Sheen yelled from the bulletin board. He was flipping through the pages, and Cindy could see the small heart stickers scattered throughout the days. She also saw the red dots she had added herself. It put her mind at ease to track herself, even though she'd never been late a day in her life.

"Guys, come on. That's private." Jimmy sighed. He knew Sheen didn't have much regard for privacy though.

"What's your record in a day?" Sheen asked as he flipped through. Days with three or four stickers on them were scattered throughout the week.

"Sheen-"

"Wait! Is it this day with six?" He asked, pointing to a Saturday in January.

"Six?" Libby asked, joining Sheen at the board. "You guys did it six times? In one day?"

Jimmy and Cindy both blushed; Cindy in embarrassment, Jimmy in anger. He got up from the desk, to Cindy's surprise, and marched over to the bulletin board. He angrily took the camera down, brought it back, and shoved it in one of the drawers, making sure it locked.

"Can we drop it now?" He asked angrily. Sheen let out a low whistle.

"Someone's in a mood." Carl said.

"Let's go hang out at my house, guys. Give them some space." Libby suggested, tugging on Sheen's arm. Sheen shrugged and started to follow her. Carl got up from his spot on the floor and started to trail them, but paused beside Jimmy.

"You alright, Jim?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, fine, Carl. I'll see you later." Jimmy said with a small smile. As much as he loved his friends, sometimes they got on his nerves. Carl nodded and headed towards the exit.

"I'm sorry, Cin. I didn't expect them all to be here. I was hoping for more privacy." Jimmy sighed, his hands falling to the table top.

"You're stressed." Cindy said, sitting down on the stool beside him. The desk was cluttered. She could see the results of her not being in the lab for the last few days. Jimmy was not very neat, but Cindy was. Every time she came in, she picked everything up and put it away. At first, she did it because the mess bothered her, and she complained that she wasn't his mother. But it eventually became habit for her.

"I am, a bit. More angry than anything though." He explained. "For him to just flaunt his new girlfriend around like that in front of you, and then we come back here for some peace and quiet and they're here. And they're being invasive."

"Nick doesn't bother me, Jimmy." Cindy shook her head and reached for his hand.

"Well he bothers me." Jimmy turned full to her, letting the paper in his hand fall to the desk. "He hurt you. That makes him the worst person I know."

"You're sweet." Cindy smiled sadly and gave his hand a squeeze before letting go. "Come on, let's study. There's a lot of work to do."

* * *

"Whatcha working on?" Cindy asked, blueprints clutched to her chest. Jimmy was hunched over a metal remote.

"Anti-gravity tool." Jimmy pointed the remote at one of the many pens sitting on the desk. It rose slightly before disintegrating into nothing. "It still needs work."

"Right." Cindy chuckled. She continued to the file cabinets against the wall to file away the blueprints. Before she came along, all the blueprints were in a cardboard box. Now they were in manila folders in the cabinet and alphabetized.

"You look cute in that." Jimmy said suddenly. Cindy straightened up and looked behind her. Her pony tail whipped around and hit her cheek. Jimmy's eyes weren't on her anymore, they were down on his note book, but he was smiling and blushing.

"Thanks." Cindy smiled for a moment before bending back over to put the rest of the prints away. She had worn a modest white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts with white polka dots. She liked the shorts because they made her look curvier than she actually was. Libby was the one with the curvy body that most guys loved. Cindy was smaller in every way.

"I like the shorts."

"Stop staring at my ass, Nerdtron." Cindy laughed, throwing another look over her shoulder.

"I can't help it. It's cute." Jimmy laughed with her. The two continued to work in silence together until she felt a small pinch on her back side. She stood up with a small yelp, letting the last two prints flutter to the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cindy asked, turning around and covering her bottom with her hands. Jimmy was standing in front of her now, smiling.

"Nothing. Just having a little fun." He chuckled.

"We have work to do, Geek." She said, avoiding his grabby hands. She swerved around him, running towards the work bench. She twisted and turned, seeing how far behind her he was. Jimmy gave chase, his lab coat billowing out behind him. Cindy hit the desk first, her back against it and hands clutching the edge. Jimmy put his hands on the top on either side of her, trapping her in place.

"Gotcha." He said, leaning towards her. Cindy leaned back as far as she could.

"Come on, this place is a mess." Cindy pushed against him gently.

"We can clean up later." Jimmy shrugged.

"At least let's clean up the work bench. Look at all of these papers and all of the tools." Cindy gestured to it and they both knew she was right.

"Fine." Jimmy sighed, hanging his head in defeat. He stepped back to let Cindy out and then stepped back up to the desk. He put his hands on his hips for a moment before reaching out and sweeping everything off of the work bench in one swoop.

Cindy laughed, and then hopped up onto the bench where she was before. She fell back on the desk and Jimmy leaned over her, his tongue exploring her mouth. Cindy wrapped her legs around his waist as his hands traveled up her shirt.

* * *

Cindy shut the file cabinet and turned back to the rest of the lab. Jimmy was leaning over everything on the floor, setting the tools into his small tool box. The lab wasn't as messy anymore, but there was still work to be done.

"I don't know what these notes are for. Can you file these ones though?" Jimmy asked, holding up a stack of scrap papers.

"Sure. And that one is from the skate things you were going to make Sheen." Cindy explained, plucking the stray paper from his other hand with a smirk.

"Right. Thanks." Jimmy smiled as he gathered up the stray pieces of wire and metal. He replaced everything on the bench and checked around him for anything else. Cindy set the small tool box back onto the desk.

"There. Isn't it nice when the lab is neat and clean?" Cindy asked with her hands on her hips. She wore a smug smile on her face.

"It's nicer when you're nude." Jimmy smirked down at her. She playfully punched him in the stomach while they laughed.

"Well as much fun as that would be, I should head home." Cindy said, reaching over to grab her text book. She had left in the lab yesterday, and now it had a nice dent in the spine from being thrown on the floor.

"Yeah, it is getting late. I promised my mom I wouldn't spend the night in the lab again." Jimmy checked his watch. It was almost time for dinner already. He blinked a few times, trying to figure out the time difference they underwent.

"Yeah, you've been staying out here a lot." Cindy said as she started to shut down the machinery in the lab. Once the room was dark and quiet, the two of them climbed the ladder up and left the club house.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Jimmy said, gently touching her elbow. He was about to head into the house when he heard shouting. The two of them looked around the side of the house and saw Mrs. Vortex standing with her hands on her hips in the front porch of Cindy's home.

"So you're just going to leave?" Sasha shouted. Jimmy leaned a little further and saw Cindy's dad throwing a bag into the back of his convertible.

"I am tired of living with a rude, snooty, belittling bitch!" He yelled back. Jimmy heard Cindy gasp. He put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest so she wouldn't have to look.

"Well maybe if you weren't such a lazy child we wouldn't have these problems!" He threw his last bag into the car and opened the driver's side door.

"Oh because you're such a perfect princess! You're always right aren't you? Climb down off your high horse, Sasha!" He got into the car, slammed the door and backed down the driveway.

"Fine! Leave! But you better not come back!" Sasha shouted after the car as it drove away. The two watched as she sighed and sat down on the steps. Her look of sophistication crumpled as she curled up into herself, her lilac blouse wrinkling.

"I-I can't believe-" Cindy started, shaking her head.

"Shh." Jimmy pulled her into a tight hug. He looked around and saw neighbors shutting their windows and doors, trying to block out the fight. Next door, the Wheezers were on their back porch, in the middle of disinfecting the bricks on the back of the house, but were frozen, mouths agape in shock.

"I should go make sure she's okay." Cindy said, taking a step forward. Jimmy stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I think someone beat you to it." Jimmy pointed. His mom and Libby's mom were making their way over the Vortex household. "Come on. I bet Mrs. Folfax is asking everyone over to dinner as we speak."

* * *

"I appreciate your invitation for dinner, Olivia." Sasha said, flopping ungracefully into the seat at the dining room table.

"It's no problem, Honey. You stay here as long as you like. Dinner is almost done." Olivia Folfax was dressed in a burgundy sweater and comfortable jeans, her dark hair held back by her headband. She gave Sasha a pat on the shoulder before returning to the kitchen.

"Cynthia, I'm sure you have some questions-"

"Mom, it's fine. We don't have to talk about it now." Cindy waved her mom off, deflating in her seat. She could hear Martha Wheezer and Judy Neutron in the kitchen, working swiftly to get dinner finished. She listened for the dads, all in the living room watching some sports game.

Hugh Neutron was shouting at someone on the screen, telling him to pass something. Eb Wheezer was rambling about something being painful. Carlos Estevez was rattling off curses in Spanish. And Lamar Folfax was yelling along with Hugh. Cindy missed the sound of her father offering up odd trivia about the team.

"How are you doing, Honey?" Olivia came back with a two glasses of water and set them on the table. Cindy took one with a small smile.

"I'm okay, Mrs. Folfax. Thank you." Cindy smiled. She used to love the Folfax parties. The house was large enough to accommodate the five families, all shouting and rowdy. Today it had a much quieter and somber mood.

"Thanks for helping me fix my bike, guys." The patio door behind Cindy slid open. She turned and saw Kenny Folfax walking through the door with Sheen, Jimmy, and Carl trailing behind him.

"No problem, Ken. If the chain pops off again, let me know, okay?" Sheen said, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder.

"Hey, Cin. How you feeling?" Carl asked, taking a seat beside her. Cindy offered him a smile and a nod. Libby appeared out of the kitchen and started setting the table.

"Oh, thank you, Baby." Olivia kissed her daughter on the forehead and twisted back towards the kitchen. Kenny followed after her.

"Your welcome, Momma." Libby called after her. "We can eat at the kitchen table with the guys." Libby locked eyes with her best friend over the table. "Can I get you anything, Mrs. Vortex?"

"No, Dear. Thank you for your concern." Sasha smiled at the girl who had become like another daughter to her. Libby was often in her home with Cindy. The two girls had been inseparable since childhood.

"I'm going to go in the kitchen, Mom." Cindy said softly. She followed Libby back to the kitchen where the guys had gathered around the kitchen table. The noise from the living room faded away the further into the kitchen she got.

"Alright you guys, help yourselves. There's plenty for everyone." Olivia said. She, Judy, and Martha made a train out of the kitchen carrying arms full of trays and bowls. Martha let the door swing shut behind her, quieting the noise entirely.

The boys at the table fell silent while Libby made herself a plate.

"I'm fine, guys." Cindy sighed and rolled her eyes. She didn't like all the sympathy. She was hoping for some time alone.

"Here, Cin, have my seat. I'll get you a plate." Jimmy hopped up from the bay window seat. Anna, who was seated beside him, pat the now empty seat with her hand.

"You don't have to get my plate, Jimmy. I can take care of myself." Cindy sighed and followed him over to the kitchen island where he was putting mashed potatoes on a plate for her. She took the dish from his hands.

"I'm just trying to help-"

"I don't need your help, Neutron." Cindy snapped, putting a piece of chicken on her plate. She felt a lump growing in her throat and kept her head down.

"I understand this is hard on you. But you don't need to take out your frustrations on me." Jimmy's eyebrows furrowed in concern. He watched as Cindy's plate clattered to the counter top and her hands hit the granite hard.

"I wouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you if you didn't piss me off!" She shouted. Their eyes met for a brief second over the island before she turned and stomped towards the door for the garage. Jimmy watched her, torn between following her and giving her space.

"She's not mad at you, Jimmy." Libby said, putting a hand on his bicep. Jimmy turned to her and nodded.

"I know. Let's just eat. She'll rejoin us when she's ready."

* * *

"Hey." Cindy turned around and saw Jimmy standing over her, leaning in the doorway between the kitchen and the garage. He held a plate in one hand and the other hand was shoved in his pocket. "Brought you something to eat."

"I'm not really hungry." Cindy sighed, turning back to look at the cluttered garage. Jimmy sat down beside her as the metal door clanged shut.

"You haven't really eaten today. You need to eat to keep your body running." Jimmy still held the plate in his hands. Cindy had her elbows on her knees and her head rested in her hands, so her lap was full.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." She mumbled, not meeting his eye.

"It's alright, Cin. I know you're upset." Jimmy set the plate on a dusty box nearby and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and let out a sigh.

"I knew they didn't get along. They haven't slept in the same bed in years, even got twin beds in their bedroom. They argued every time they were together. But Dad spent all his spare time in his home office, so they weren't together often. I just never thought he'd leave." Cindy explained. Jimmy wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her into a hug. "And without saying goodbye to me-"

"Hey, Cindy, he loves you." Jimmy interrupted her thoughts. She looked up at him with tears brimming in her big green eyes. "If he didn't love you, he wouldn't have stayed as long as he did."

"So I'm the reason my parents are miserable." Cindy shook her head and pulled away from him.

"No, that's not what I said. I said he loves you. That's that." Jimmy let go of her shoulders and settled for taking her hand.

"Can I just be alone for a while?" Cindy asked quietly.

"Yeah. Everyone is in the basement when you're ready. Just text me if you need something alright?" Jimmy kissed her forehead gently before getting to his feet.

"Yeah. Jimmy?" Cindy looked up at him again and he paused, his hand that was reaching for the door handle falling back to his side.

"Hm?"

"Thanks. You've been really nice about everything. And I've been so mean to you." She tried to fight back her tears, but they spilled out of her eyes and traveled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, no need to apologize, Cin. Come here." Jimmy held his hand out to her and she allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and hugged tight to his chest. She sobbed against him.

**This chapter turned out sadder than I intended. I apologize for the delay, but I started working on another project that really took off, plus school and work and responsibilities. And the reason it took so long was because I want to keep each chapter about 6000 words, and I didn't want to compromise on that for this chapter just because it's been a while.**


	8. Chapter 8

Jimmy blinked in the sunlight that was filtering through his bedroom window. He curled further around the girl in his arms. She cuddled into the blankets tucked around the two of them.

"Cin, wake up." He said softly, kissing her temple and cheek.

"What time is it?" She asked, keeping her eyes closed.

"Six. Sun is rising. You should probably head home." He said, but continued to pepper kisses over her face and neck.

"Thanks for letting me stay again." Cindy stretched slightly, welcoming the kisses and giving him one on the lips. "I just can't take my mom crying in her room anymore."

"I know. You're always welcome here." He said, pulling his arm back so she could get up.

"Alright. I'll see you at school. Libby is picking me up." Cindy leaned down and kissed him once more before going to open the window.

"Hey, Cin?" Jimmy asked, sitting up and letting the blankets pool around his waist.

"Hm?" She asked, sitting on the window sill with one leg hanging down in the crisp morning air.

Jimmy opened his mouth to speak when someone knocked on his door.

"Jimmy? I need your help with something. The waffle maker isn't working." Judy said through the door.

"Go, I'll see you at school." Jimmy hissed. Cindy nodded and dropped down to the ground gracefully.

"Honey, why are you sleeping with the window open? It's cold out, you're going to freeze." Judy said when she opened the door. She stepped over and closed the window while her son tried to fully wake up.

"I forgot to close it last night. It was hot in here." Jimmy shook his head as he rubbed his eyes.

"Honey, what did you do to your chest?" She asked, turning around. Jimmy looked down and saw a few scratches across it. The previous night flashed quickly in his mind.

"Just a small incident in the lab. No big deal." He flushed.

"Do you have a fever?" She leaned over to feel his forehead.

"Mom, I'm fine. I'll be down to fix the waffle iron in a few minutes." He gently eased her hand back away from his face. She stayed for a moment, conflicted, but nodded and left her son alone anyways.

Jimmy rolled out of bed and padded, barefoot, over to his bathroom to relieve himself while pondering the past week.

Cindy had been over every day, either in his house or in the lab. She had stayed almost every night too. Her mother was heartbroken, understandably, and she and Cindy argued more. At night, Cindy could hear her crying, and she couldn't stand it.

The first few nights, she simply curled up in his arms and cried or talked about nothing in particular for a while until she got too tired to keep her eyes open. The last couple of nights, though, she didn't want to talk. She'd crawl into bed and they'd get lost in passion and the cloudy judgement of the teenage mind.

He stepped up to the mirror to brush his hair and noticed Cindy's tooth brush still out. He had nabbed a spare one for her from the household stash when she started staying the night in his room. He tucked it back into the drawer.

Once Jimmy was satisfied with his hair, he tugged on the t-shirt he had worn to bed, which still smelled like Cindy. He hadn't worn it for long anyways. He slipped out of his pajama pants and wiggled into a pair of jeans, his head still spinning from the scent in his room. Sex. And Cindy. It was intoxicating.

Goddard lifted his head and looked at his owner.

"Don't look at me like that, Boy." Jimmy shook his head, dropping the collar of his shirt away from his face. "She just smells good."

Goddard produced speakers from his sides and started playing a bit of music that sounded like a porno.

"Shut up." Jimmy grumbled. The pair nearly flew out the door and down the stairs.

* * *

"Speed it up, Neutron!" Coach Ferguson shouted. Jimmy was at the back of the pack of students with Carl again, but this time, he wasn't faking anything.

"You alright, Jim?" Carl huffed as he jogged.

"Just tired, Carl. I haven't gotten much sleep this week. Cindy's having a hard time." Jimmy shook his head, trying to keep his eyes in front of him.

"She call you in the middle of the night or something?"

"No, she's been sleeping at my house all week." Jimmy shook his head. "And not just sex either. She just doesn't want to be in her house."

"Why doesn't she just go to Libby's?" Carl asked, and Jimmy almost stopped running. He hadn't thought of that. Why had she chosen his bed over Libby's?

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Jim, if she's staying the night and going to you over anyone else and you're having sex and doing stuff together and you love her, isn't that dating?" Carl asked, shaking his inhaler.

"I don't know, Carl. It's all really complicated right now." Jimmy sighed. "I just want her to be happy."

"Are you happy?" Carl asked, and this time, Jimmy did stop. Carl turned and halted himself.

"She makes me happy." Jimmy panted, resting his hands on his knees. "She makes me really happy."

"Then that's all you need to know." Carl smiled, and Jimmy smiled back.

"I didn't say you could stop!" Coach Ferguson called across the field.

"When did you get so smart with relationships and stuff?" Jimmy asked as they started running again.

"I read a lot." Carl shrugged.

"Hey, slow pokes." Sheen said as he lapped them, running backwards. "Can't catch your breath?" He asked, glancing at Carl. "Dude, you look like death."

"Thanks." Jimmy glared at his other friend.

"Did you sleep at all?" Sheen asked.

"No. Cindy's kept me up all week." Jimmy sighed. "I don't know how I'm going to do in the competition tonight."

"See this is why smart people never get laid." Sheen scoffed.

* * *

"Hey." Jimmy said as he sat down across from Cindy at their normal lunch table.

"Hey, yourself." She smiled up at him with sincerity. "Think you're ready for tonight?" She asked, pushing her mashed potatoes around on her plate.

"For me beating you at the competition or for the celebration we'll have later?" Jimmy asked, smirking.

"If you beat me, you're not getting any tonight." Cindy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Or any night for the foreseeable future."

"Well maybe you'll just have to study harder." Jimmy teased.

"Maybe you need to not be such a smart ass."

"Alright, Lucy, Ricky, enough smack talk." Libby said as she and Sheen sat down beside Cindy.

"Yeah, it's really lame sounding." Sheen said, picking up his soda. Carl sat down beside Jimmy, but said nothing in greeting.

"Hey, C-man." Sheen said, trying to stuff a large piece of chicken into his mouth.

"Sheen, smaller bites." Libby scolded.

"You alright, Carl?" Cindy asked, noticing how pale Carl looked. Well, more than normal. Carl shook his head.

"I just had a thought." He said, picking up his fork and pushing his peas around. "What if Elke wants to have sex when she comes here?"

"Then you have sex." Sheen said bluntly.

"I'm not ready for that." Carl shook his head, blushing madly. "But what do I say if she wants to?"

"Just tell her you're not ready. If she cares about you, which I know she does, she'll understand." Jimmy explained. "It's not something to be taken lightly." He threw a pointed look at Sheen.

"I didn't take it lightly. I've been in love with Libby for eight years. It was worth the wait." Sheen said as he slipped his arm around Libby's shoulders.

"Aww, you're so sweet." Libby cooed, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Really though, Carl. It's not a big deal to want to wait."

"Yeah, and she may not even want to. You might be freaking out for nothing." Cindy said, gesturing with her fork. "Everyone matures at different rates."

"Yeah, look at these two. They were born at forty and they fuck like rabbits." Sheen scoffed, motioning between Jimmy and Cindy.

"Oh, like you two are any better." Cindy scoffed. "You carry a roll of condoms in your wallet."

"Always be prepared. My three days in the boy scouts taught me something." Sheen smirked.

* * *

Jimmy stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom, tying his tie carefully and thoughtfully. He was dressed in a burgundy button-down and his nicest slacks and the black tie now nestled under his collar.

He hoped it looked good. He sucked at judging that. Cindy would tell him if he looked like a tool.

He heard the doorbell ring downstairs and Goddard barking until Mrs. Neutron answered.

"Jimmy! Cindy's here!" His mom shouted. He smirked and ran his fingers through his hair once before heading for the stairs.

At the bottom stood Cindy in a black pencil skirt and a jade green sweater, joined by a black belt on her waist. Her hair was pulled back into a sleeker version of her usual pony tail, and she stood taller in her black heels.

"Hey, Cin. Ready to go?" He asked as he jogged down the stairs.

"James, where are your manners? Tell her she looks nice." Judy said from where she was ironing pants in the living room. Hugh was on the couch in only a t-shirt and boxers.

"Mom-"

"Listen to your mother, Jim Jam." Hugh added, waving the remote in his hand around for emphasis.

"You look very nice, Cindy." Jimmy sighed, eliciting a giggle from the girl.

"Thank you, James." She teased. "And yes, I'm ready to go."

"Cool. I'll see you guys after the competition." Jimmy waved as he started to usher Cindy out the front door. Once outside, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, my parents are embarrassing." Jimmy laughed as they made their way to the driveway.

"It's fine. I love your parents. You look really handsome by the way." Cindy said as she got into the hover car.

"Thanks. I like that sweater. It's a good color on you." He said as he backed out of the driveway. The two continued the drive in comfortable silence, the radio playing some random pop song that both of them knew but neither liked much.

Jimmy parked the car at the school and paused as he looked at the doors to the auditorium. There was a man standing out front with his head down, but he knew who he was, having lived across the street from him for years.

"Uh, Cindy, your dad is here." He mumbled as he tried to stretch a little more for a better look.

"What?" She sat up straight in her seat to see over the few cars in their way, but she could still see him standing there. "Oh god."

"Do you want to go around to the back entrance?" Jimmy asked, reaching for his seat belt again.

"No." Cindy shook her head. "I-I have to see him eventually."

"Well let's go in then." Jimmy nodded and the two of them stepped out into the cool, evening air. They made their way towards the school and Mr. Vortex's head snapped up to meet their eyes.

"Cindy." He smiled at her. "I've missed you, Princess." He opened his arms for a hug, but Cindy hesitated.

"Dad. I didn't think you were coming." She said, leaning into Jimmy's hand on her lower back.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss my daughter's academic competition." Mr. Vortex stepped forward to hug her anyways. She tensed.

"Well, thanks for coming." She mumbled as he stepped back.

"Cin, we have to get inside." Jimmy said, eyeing the door behind Mr. Vortex. Cindy nodded.

"Right. I'll see you after, Dad." She said, letting herself be led into the building.

"Are you alright?" He whispered, looking over his shoulder as her father vanished from sight.

"I just need a minute." She deflated, her shoulders slumping. "I didn't think he'd show up so soon. I-I wasn't ready to see him again."

"I'll go sign us in, alright? You take your time." Jimmy grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently before turning to the hallway and leaving her in front of the restrooms. He hurried down to where the other students were gathering in front of the principal and Ms. Fowl, the vice principal.

"Hello, Jimmy." She greeted. He smiled at her.

"Hello, Ms. Fowl. Uh, Cindy Vortex is here too, she'll be joining us in a minute." He said as he forged her signature, badly, on the sign-in sheet before signing his own.

"I'm sure you two will put on quite a show." Ms. Fowl squawked.

* * *

"Alright, we're down to the last two contestants." The announcer said, looking between the two students. "James Neutron and Cynthia Vortex, please step up to the stands."

The two teens took their places at the podiums, facing each other. As the announcer fired question after question at them individually, Jimmy could feel the audience getting bored.

He and Cindy were both exceptionally smart, both receiving higher than a 4.0 GPA every year, and the parents and friends knew it.

Jimmy saw his parents in the front row, both beaming with pride. A few rows back, Carl, Sheen, and Libby were seated. Sheen was playing on his phone, Libby bopping along to a song on her phone, and Carl nodding off.

He rolled his eyes at them and caught Cindy's eye while she fired off another answer. She smiled knowingly.

All of their friend's parents were sitting together towards the back, none of them paying much attention either. But Mrs. Vortex, who was sitting in the front row by his parents, was tense and wide-eyed. She hoped Cindy would win against the boy who had beaten her academically their whole lives.

And in the very back corner, he saw Cindy's dad, eyes on his daughter.

"James, what are the three Latin phrases used in the Constitution?" The announcer asked, and Jimmy looked over at Cindy.

She was biting her lip with her eye tooth; he knew she knew the answer.

He could see her mother looking back and forth between the two of them, and her father looking on with hope.

"James?" The announcer asked.

"I-I don't know." He breathed.

The whole audience gasped. Cindy's head snapped up to look at him, shocked. He saw Libby and Sheen sit up straight in their seats and Carl snorted as he woke back up. His parents' jaws dropped.

"Well, Cynthia, if you can answer this correctly, then you win. If not, a new question will be presented to James." The announcer said. "What are the three Latin phrases used in the Constitution?"

"Uh, pro tempore, ex post facto, and habeas corpus." She said, looking between the announcer and Jimmy, eyes still wide.

"Congratulations, Cynthia, you win." The announcer smiled, probably relieved to be done.

The audience all clapped, though most still looked unsure as to what happened. The most unsure was Cindy, who just smiled nervously.

* * *

"You knew that." Cindy said as soon as they stepped back stage, turning to face Jimmy and stop him from walking any further.

"I didn't." Jimmy shook his head.

"Yes you did, I know you did." She crossed her arms. "What did you do?"

"Cindy! Jimmy! Everyone's looking for you two." Ms. Fowl stuck her head back stage and called to them. Cindy glared up at Jimmy for a moment before huffing and following Ms. Fowl out to the hall.

The two of them were met by friends and family, Cindy getting swept up by the parents and Jimmy getting pulled aside, quite literally, but Sheen.

"How did you lose, Dude?" He asked, still in shock.

"I just didn't know them all. I knew two, but I couldn't remember all three." Jimmy explained. He looked over at Cindy, who was being hugged by Libby and Mrs. Folfax, a huge smile on her face. He felt a similar one crossing his face.

"You threw the competition." Carl realized.

"What? That's absurd, Carl, I didn't-"

"Yes you did. You threw it so Cindy would win." He said, looking between Jimmy and Cindy.

"Did you really?" Sheen asked. "Why?"

"She just, she's so happy." Jimmy mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked further down the hall and saw Mr. Vortex standing there, beaming with pride.

"Jim, she's going to be pissed." Carl hissed.

"Why? She won." Jimmy said, turning his attention back to his two confused friends.

"Because you let her win. She didn't do it all on her own." Carl explained. Cindy stepped forward to embrace her mother, and a real smile graced her face. It was the happiest any of the boys had ever seen her.

"She doesn't have to know that." Jimmy said. "And look at her face."

"Jimmy, you are so head over heels for her." Carl said. "You'd never let yourself lose to Cindy."

"Yeah, Man, you just gave up everything you've worked for so Cindy could be happy." Sheen shook his head. "You can't tell us you don't want her."

"Look, it's complicated right now-"

"Nothing is complicated. Just walk over there and kiss her." Sheen said, giving Jimmy a soft shove.

"Jimmy! Honey, what happened?" The trio looked up and saw Jimmy's parents rushing over to them.

"Mom-"

"There's always next year, Jim-Jam." Hugh said as he pat his son on the back. Judy embraced her son.

"Are you alright, Honey? Are you sick? You seemed warm this morning." She reached up to feel Jimmy's forehead.

"Mom." Jimmy laughed and took her hands in his. "I'm fine. I really am. It's okay. Like dad said, there's always next year."

"Are you sure, Jimmy? You still feel kind of warm."

"You're embarrassing the boy, Sugar Booger. Go have fun with your friends, Jimmy, Your mom and I will see you at home." Hugh said, resting his arm around his wife's shoulders and leading her away from the teens.

"Don't stay out too late, Honey." Judy called behind her.

* * *

"Congratulations, Cin." Jimmy said as he stepped up to her. The back hallway finally cleared out and they got a second to themselves.

"I can't believe you did that." Cindy shook her head, but her anger was long gone. "There's no way you didn't know that."

"I didn't know all of them. I swear, Cin. You won fair and square." He stepped forward to kiss her temple.

"Jimmy," She started, but she closed her mouth. She stood on her toes and kissed him softly, letting her hands rest on his chest. "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked, letting his hands settle on her hips.

"You know what." She whispered, kissing him again. His hands wound around and landed on the small of her back while she reached up to grab his face in her hands.

"We can take this back to the lab if you want." He mumbled when she pulled back and let her heels fall back to the tile.

"I, um, I'm actually going to dinner with my dad. He wanted to take me out to apologize for how he walked out and talk about stuff." Cindy said, taking a step back. "But leave your window unlocked tonight, alright? I told my mom I was staying at Libby's."

"Yeah, okay." He nodded as she took another step back, choosing to grab her hands instead. "Have fun with your dad."

* * *

"Dude, you need to make a move." Sheen said. He was laying across his bed on his back, his head hanging off and watching the game he was playing on his television, fingers frantically working the buttons on the controller.

"What more could I do? We're already sleeping together. That's kind of as far as that goes." Jimmy said. He was perched up by the pillows with one of Sheen's handheld games, his tongue poking out of his mouth in concentration.

"You know, there's more romantic and meaningful things than just sex." Carl said from the window seat where he was reading one of Sheen's comic books. The two other boys in the room paused their games and looked at Carl. "What?"

"Sex is like the goal, dude. Every bit of romantic crap is to get you closer to sex." Sheen said.

"No, look, there are way better things than sex. Not that I have a frame of reference." Carl shrugged and set the book down. "What about making her dinner? Or writing her a love letter? You could bring her flowers or-"

"Yawn!" Sheen shouted. Carl glared. "That sounds wimpy."

"Girls love this kind of stuff, Sheen. They want to know they're more than just a body to you." Carl leaned back and opened the comic book again.

"What you need to do is ask her out." Sheen unpaused his game and flopped back down to continue playing.

"Sheen, that's lame. Jimmy, you need to do something romantic. Like the stuff you normally do, just a little more." Carl explained.

"What do you mean like I usually do?" Jimmy closed the handheld and set it on Sheen's nightstand. Sheen rolled over onto his stomach and Jimmy stretched out, putting his feet on Sheen's lower back.

"All that stuff you usually do. Like how you made her that dog for her birthday? How you threw the competition tonight for her?" Carl shrugged again and turned the page.

"Or how you stood up for her in front of Nick. Or that time you bought her ice cream when she got her tonsils out." Sheen added.

"You let her take your pudding cup instead of her fruit cup every time she got her braces tightened." Carl nodded. "And you're basically letting her live at your house."

"I just care about her. I've always cared about her." Jimmy crossed his arms and leaned back against the headboard. "That's not romance."

"Dude, would you ever buy me ice cream or let me win at anything?" Sheen asked, pausing his game again and looking over at his friend.

"I," Jimmy started, ready to defend his actions, "I'm sure I-"

"No." Carl and Sheen chimed in unison.

"Well how do I do something romantic and her see it as romantic? According to your logic, I've been romancing her since we were twelve, which I still deny." Jimmy asked, sitting up again and pulling his feet in to cross his legs.

"You've been laying the ground work." Sheen shrugged.

"Just tell her how you feel and do something nice. Take her out on an actual date instead of just studying and all the other stuff in the lab." Carl sat up again and tossed the comic book on top of the stack by the desk.

"You could ask her to prom. Libby said she doesn't have a date or anything." Sheen suggested.

"For once, Sheen has a good idea." Carl said, ignoring Sheen's glare. "Prom is a big deal for girls. It would mean a lot if you asked her."

"How should I do it?" Jimmy asked. "Do I go all out or do I just ask her?"

"That's your call. You know her better than any of us." Carl said.

"I'm asking Libby with a bunch of roses and the help of the Drama club." Sheen explained. "She's going to go help out with some choreography, and they're all supposed to have signs for the protest, but they're going to spell out 'Will you go to prom with me.'"

"See? That's romantic." Carl pointed out.

"Is it? Hm." Sheen rolled onto his back again and stared up at the ceiling. "Hey, screw fallout. Anyone up for Mario cart?"

* * *

Jimmy snuck up to his room, quietly side-stepping the squeaky floorboard and leaping over the noisy step on the stairs. He opened his door and saw Cindy asleep in his bed, a book open beside her.

He smiled and shut his bedroom door. He pulled his jacket off and threw it on the back of his desk chair before stripping down to his boxers, moving Cindy's book, and crawling in behind her.

"Hey." She whispered, adjusting herself against him. The bed was not very big.

"Hey, yourself." He kissed her neck softly. "How was dinner?"

"He explained everything and gave me the address of the apartment he's renting. He and my mom just never got along well, and he didn't mean to storm out like he did." She shrugged.

"How long have you been waiting?"

"A couple hours." She turned around in his arms to face him.

"Why didn't you call me?" He asked.

"I didn't want to interrupt you guys."

"Well tonight is about you. What do you want to do?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbow.

"Hm, you know what I like." Cindy smiled sleepily and gazed at him with half-lidded eyes. Jimmy smiled and gave her a deep kiss. He peppered a trail of kisses down her neck, pausing to push her shirt up and off of her body, then continuing his trail down her torso.

Jimmy paused at the waist band of her shorts. He gripped them and pulled down slowly until they were resting at her knees. He tugged her by her legs until her feet were flat on the floor and she squealed quietly in surprise. She kicked her shorts the rest of the way off.

"You have to be quiet, Cin." He whispered, though he wished he could hear her make that noise again, even louder. He tugged her underwear off and threw them elsewhere in the room before he lifted her legs up to rest on his shoulders. He leaned in and gave her inner thighs each a kiss.

"If you wanted quiet you should have just left me asleep." Cindy groaned. Jimmy smirked up at her before he leaned in further and dove his tongue into her. Her back arched and one of her hands flew up to cover her mouth, but he still heard her muffled cry. He leaned into the hand raking through his hair.

"Anyone ever tell you that you have a really cute ass?" He asked, pausing to give her back side a quick squeeze.

"Only every time you see me naked." Cindy giggled, moving her free hand down to card through his hair and pull him closer. She hummed in pleasure.

Jimmy moved his tongue up to lick gently at her clit while his fingers took over where he had previously been, and Cindy briefly squeezed his head between her thighs.

"Easy, Cin." He grasped her leg with his free hand while he continued to work her up. He felt her arching, trying to meet the thrusts his fingers were making, but still keep his face where it was. She whined, trying to get closer to her release.

"Just let me know if you want me to stop." He mumbled, nudging the hand on top of his head softly.

"Mmm, please don't stop." She groaned. He nodded and flicked his tongue into her again, then moved back up to lap at her bundle of nerves. He felt her clench down around his fingers tightly. He continued rolling his tongue around her clit until her hands pushed him back.

"You alright, Cin?" He asked, letting her legs fall and crawling into bed beside her.

"Yeah, I'm more than alright." She mumbled, leaning up to kiss his softly. "You're really good at that."

"Well I got an A in anatomy." He shrugged and smirked at her.

"So did I." She smiled. "Wanna see what I learned?"

* * *

When Jimmy woke up in his bed, he was naked and alone. He looked over at his dresser and saw Cindy's book still there, open to the page she had left off on.

He got up to get in the shower and saw a note taped to his mirror.

J,

Last night was great. Had to get home to Mom. See you later today.

-C

He smiled at it and set it on the counter before turning to the shower.

* * *

Jimmy tripped over his feet as he walked into Libby's house. Her parents and her brother were at his baseball game, and the five of them were meeting there, but Sheen and Carl had yet to wake up.

He quickly made his way through the living room and dining room when he heard Cindy's voice singing. He recognized it from a musical that Cindy loved, and he knew that Libby loved too.

"Think of me, think of me fondly," She sang, and he paused to listen to the notes she hit, angelic and smooth. Until her voice cracked.

"I can't hit that note." She laughed as the music carried on without her.

"Girl, I can't hit any of those notes." Libby laughed with her and the music stopped, only to be switched to another song. More upbeat, and he heard Libby starting to sing.

"Woke up today, feeling the way I always do," She sang, and Jimmy laughed at the lyrics as he listened.

Cindy and Libby had loved theatre productions throughout high school, and both were trying out for the spring production that started after prom was over.

Jimmy decided to join the girls in the basement.

Libby's singing continued as she waved at him, still dancing about in the empty space. Cindy smiled at him as she searched through her phone for another song to sing. He had heard many different musicals escape her mouth, though he never took much interest in them.

Once Libby's song came to a close, Cindy chose another song for herself, spitting out the lines that led up to the song, and Libby filling in the other half of the dialogue.

"I know Seymours the greatest." She said, stepping up to him and putting a hand on his chest. "But I'm dating a semi-sadist. So I got a black eye and my arm's in a cast." She motioned to the body parts as she said them.

"You two seem like you're having fun." He laughed.

"Boy, don't interrupt her solo." Libby laughed while Cindy danced off, twisting and twirling, singing a song that sounded sad but she had the biggest smile on her face.

He flopped onto one of the couches and listened to the girls for another half an hour. Some of the songs were sweet and gentle, and he recognized a couple from an operetta film Cindy had made all of them go see. Some of the songs were kind of crude and funny.

He heard Sheen and Carl thundering through the house while Cindy and Libby were singing a duet from Libby's favorite musical. The gist Jimmy had got was a lesbian couple breaking up.

"Oh, hey guys." Libby greeted the two teens as they descended the stairs. Cindy turned the music off and smiled.

"Hey Libalicious." Sheen leaned over the railing to plant a kiss on Libby's lips while Carl stepped around him and continued down the stairs.

"Hey, Cindy, I have those books for you." Carl held up a stack of books in his hands as he stepped off of the landing.

"Oh, cool." Cindy hopped up to grab them and flop onto the love seat, while Carl cried out in pain.

"You alright?" Jimmy asked, watching Cindy set the stack on the floor and pick up the top book.

"Paper cut." Carl mumbled and started towards the bathroom.

"So, what's the plan today, guys? Space travel? Trip to the bottom of the ocean? Solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart?" Sheen asked, leaping over the banister and landing solidly on his feet.

"Actually, Elke is flying in today. I can't go to the airport because I'm susceptible to foreign diseases and anxiety attacks in crowds. I told her to come here if that's alright with you guys." Carl called from the bathroom.

"That's fine, Carl. What time is her flight coming in?" Libby asked as she settled on the couch, tucking her feet up underneath of her.

"Three." He said as he emerged from the bathroom, a bandage now around his finger. "But until then, what did you guys want to do?"

"I vote video games." Sheen said, reaching for the television remote.

"I vote movies." Libby rolled her eyes. "Cin?"

Cindy ignored her best friend in favor of the book in her hands, already quite a few pages in. Jimmy smiled and pat her leg, which was resting in his lap. She glanced up at him over the top of her book.

"Hm?" She asked.

"Movies or video games?"

"Book." She said shortly as she turned the page.

"Sorry, Libby. I tried." Jimmy shrugged, stroking his thumb along Cindy's calf.

"Fine, play your video games. I'm going to go get the laundry started if you don't mind." Libby laughed at her best friend before getting to her feet.

"You parents aren't home?" Sheen asked as he turned on the gaming system.

"No." She shook her head and blinked.

"I'll be back in like ten minutes." Sheen tossed the controller to Carl, who fumbled with it before catching it, and took Libby's hand to pull her up the stairs.

"Do you ever think they have too much sex?" Carl asked as he sat in the spot Libby had vacated. "I mean, that can't be healthy."

"Well, I'm sure Sheen is fine. The real risk is pregnancy or a UTI for Libby." Jimmy said as he picked up the second controller that was on the table. "Though I'm sure she knows ways of preventing both."

"Why do you guys do that so much?" Carl asked as the game started up. Jimmy was never much for first person shooters, but he didn't think he could get up with Cindy using him as a foot rest.

"Well for some it's for stress relief. Sometimes it's to burn energy. And it is pleasing. I think for Sheen and Libby, it's a healthy part of their relationship. They're incredibly committed to each other, and it's a way of showing affection." Jimmy shrugged.

"What is it for you two?" Carl asked, eyes glued to the screen.

"At first? Stress relief. There were a lot of hormones between the two of us. It was a lot of sexual frustration and ruined clothing. But now? It's an agreement. It's comfort. It's a lot of things." He explained, glancing at Cindy, who had tuned the room out completely. "It's everything."

"She seriously can't hear you, can she?" Carl asked, looking over at Cindy, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Not at all, no. Watch." Jimmy reached down to run the pads of his fingers along the bottom of her foot. He face did not change but she kicked his hand out of instinct. "She's working on instinct. Totally shut down."

"Interesting. Kind of fascinating. What all can you do to her while she's reading?" Carl asked, turning back to the game.

"In my experience? I've had a small fire in the lab that caught my sleeve. She didn't notice a thing."

**I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! I know it's been a while, but I have every intention of finishing this story. My goal is to bring you a quality story and chapters full of character development. This chapter was a lot about Jimmy really accepting his feelings instead of being in denial and about Carl. Carl is Jimmy's best friend, and I believe he really is smart, and I wanted to show what kind of person he has grown to be, one with more emotional intelligence**


	9. Chapter 9

"About damn time." Jimmy said, glancing at his watch for a moment, then turning back to the television. Libby laughed before making her way over to the kitchenette and opening the fridge. Sheen flopped down beside Carl with a goofy smile on his face. Carl scooted over to put a good foot between them.

"You thirsty, Papí?" Libby asked, standing up straight and turning slightly to look at Sheen on the couch. He leaned back and gave her a big grin.

"After that? Duh." He laughed.

"Papí?" Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow at Sheen.

"It turns me on." Sheen shrugged while Libby curled up beside him and handed him a purple flurp. Carl scooted a little bit further from the couple.

"I did not need to know that." Carl shook his head, eyes not straying from the television.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. That's not even scratching the surface." Sheen scoffed, securing his arm around Libby and taking a swig of his soda.

"I don't want to know." Carl said quickly.

"Jimmy, you'll back me up. Sex can get a lot freakier than that." Sheen said, looking over at Jimmy and Cindy. The book was still open on her lap, but she had made significant progress in the hour they were gone.

"It can, but I'm sure we're nowhere near the level you and Libby are." Jimmy shook his head and frantically pressed a button on his controller.

"Well at least we're not boring." Sheen shrugged and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table.

"We're not boring."

"Oh please. When's the last time you did anything but missionary?" Sheen asked, taking another sip of his soda.

"Uh," Jimmy paused to think. He wasn't sure, actually. "Cin?"

"Sh." She said shortly, reaching out her hand and covering his mouth. Jimmy paused their game, turned his head, and glared at her. But she didn't look up from the book in her lap, her hand still covering his mouth.

"Ha! She that bossy in the sack?" Sheen asked with a laugh.

Jimmy continued to glare for a moment before trying to jerk his head away from her hand, but it stayed put over his mouth, no matter where he moved. He tried plan b and stuck his tongue out to lick her hand.

"Ew! Gross, Nerdtron." Cindy exclaimed, pulling her hand back and finally looking up from her book. "I don't know where that's been." She exclaimed, reaching out to wipe his saliva on his shirt.

"You know exactly where that's been, Vortex." He said, glaring back at her.

"Oh, gross, I don't need to hear any of this." Carl said, letting his controller fall to his lap and scrubbing his hands over his face.

"I am trying to read a book here, Geek." Cindy said, ignoring Carl's protests and Sheen's laughter. "So shut your face." Jimmy scowled at her before reaching for the book faster than she could, holding it up above his head.

"Hey! Give that back!" Cindy shouted, getting up onto her knees to try to reach it, but Jimmy leaned back over the arm of the couch. "I hate you."

"Hate you too, Vortex." Jimmy chuckled, moving the book again as she dove across his lap, holding it in his opposite hand. She tried for it again, grasping his wrist and tugging, and ended up on her back on the loveseat with Jimmy on top of her, book awkwardly sandwiched between them.

"Hey." He whispered, eyes flicking from her eyes to her mouth. Cindy smiled briefly.

"Hi." She mumbled back.

"If you two start sucking face I'm going to puke!" Carl shouted, interrupting their moment.

"We have some self-control, Carl." Jimmy said, pushing himself to sit back up and grab his controller again. They were about to continue their game when they heard the doorbell ringing.

* * *

Cindy and Jimmy hung back in the living room while Libby answered the door. They had been trying to decide on plans for the day – Cindy liked the idea of going to Mexico to see chichenitza, and Jimmy thought the great wall of China sounded nice – but they agreed Elke should decide.

"Carl!" Elke said when she caught sight of him beside Libby. She set down the suitcase in her hand and let her bag fall from her shoulder, then flung herself forward to hug him. She wore an oversized tan sweater and white shorts, her long, blond hair in two braids that fell to the middle of her back.

"Hi, Elke." Carl mumbled into her shoulder, smile and a blush present on his face.

"How are you, Carl? I've missed you." Elke said, stepping back a bit. "It's been so long since I've seen you."

"I'm great now that you're here." Carl said shyly. Sheen and Jimmy gave each other a disgusted look and made gagging faces while Cindy and Libby 'aww'ed at them. Cindy reached back to lightly smack Jimmy's chest.

"Hello, everyone. It is so good to see you again." Elke stepped back and smiled at the four other teens in the room. "We are going to have so much fun!" She bounced in place on her toes.

"Carl, why don't you let Elke get settled in and then meet up with us here? We'll figure out what we're doing for the rest of the day." Jimmy suggested.

"Right. Come on, I'll get your bags." Carl leaned over to grab the bags on the porch, struggling to lift the heavy suitcase.

"Is it too heavy, Carl?" Elke asked.

"No, not at all." Carl groaned, hoisting it higher and starting to head outside. "Does it have wheels by any chance?" Libby shut the door behind him and turned to look at the other teens in the room. Her eyes locked on Sheen and the two of them smiled at each other.

Jimmy and Cindy looked around, trying to ignore the tension for a moment.

"We're out of here." Cindy said, taking Jimmy's hand and heading for the door. As soon as it was shut behind her, she could hear footsteps thundering up the stairs. "They don't have any self-control."

"None. You want to help me spruce up a couple things in the lab?" Jimmy asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and starting down the front porch stairs.

"If any of those things include your dick, I swear-"

"No! I have inventions and whatnot that need some work." Jimmy shook his head quickly and reached out for her hand, which she hesitated to let him take. "Although, if you're offering-"

"I'm not." Cindy shook her head. "I have a monologue to rehearse."

"Auditions soon?" Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The week after prom." Cindy nodded, giving his hand a squeeze. "I have a monologue I'll have to read and a part of a song."

"Nervous?" Jimmy asked as they started between the Wheezer's house and his own. His parents were out at the grocery store and then the hardware store. Hugh wanted to build a duck enclosure in the back yard.

"Nah. Pretty used to it by now." Cindy shrugged, plucking a piece of hair off of her shoulder. It was much easier for her to enter the lab since her hair fell out all the time and stuck to her shirt. She let Vox scan the strand and she welcomed her with a mechanical 'Welcome Cynthia'.

"Can we change my name in Vox's system?" Cindy asked as they started down towards the lab, letting their hands drop.

"Does it bug you?" Jimmy asked as he reached for his lab coat, wiggling into it. Cindy grabbed the spare one hanging beside it.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Then no." Jimmy smirked, grabbing his goggles. Cindy scowled at him before grabbing her own.

"What are we working on?" She asked, turning towards the main part of the lab.

"Teleporter. I have some kinks to work out. I'm able to teleport an apple from the left to the right, but right to left and it turns into applesauce." Jimmy said. Goddard hopped up from his bed and followed the duo, grabbing the toolbox with his mechanical arm.

"If you turn me into applesauce, I will haunt you." Cindy warned, pausing slightly on their way across the lab. "And my ghost will make sure you never get laid again."

"Relax, I'm not putting a person in this thing any time soon." Jimmy rolled his eyes as he opened up the electrical panel. "And if I did, it wouldn't be you. It'd probably be Sheen. His brain is already mostly applesauce."

* * *

"So? Does it sound convincing?" Cindy asked after reciting her monologue that she had memorized. She reached for the pliers and twisted two wires together.

"Very convincing. What's the play about again?" Jimmy asked, looking up from where he was soldering a fuse onto the motherboard.

"It's about a girl who finds her mother's diary and discovers that she had three possible fathers, and invites all three of them to her wedding without telling her mother. I'm hoping for the part of Sophia. But so is every girl." Cindy shrugged, lifting up her goggles.

"Sing something?" Jimmy asked, reaching for tweezers and the box of spare electrical parts.

"You don't want to hear me sing it." Cindy shook her head. Jimmy looked up and met her gaze.

"I love your voice, Cin. Come on. You said it's the ABBA musical, I'm sure it's got good music. My mom listens to them." Jimmy said, pulling his goggles off entirely and setting them aside.

"Alright, I'll sing the part I have to sing for auditions." Cindy sighed before taking a deep breath and starting into the song, smile growing on her face.

And Jimmy listened. He found himself wishing that the audition piece wasn't so short, and even asked her to finish the song. He knew she knew all of it. It was soothing to hear her sing.

"Do you think it sounds okay?" She asked when she was done, reaching back into the machine and stripping another wire.

"It sounds great, Cin. You'll get the part, I know it." Jimmy smiled at her and went back to the motherboard in his hands.

"Well, I have until after prom to prepare. Libby and I are going to pick up our dresses tomorrow and help Elke find one too, since she's Carl's date." Cindy said casually. Jimmy remembered the pictures she had sent him from the dressing room, unable to pick a dress. There were three she had shown him: one in lime green, one that was a pale pink, and one that was a sky blue. He voted for the pink. It always looked nice on her.

He also remembered he was supposed to ask her to be his date.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" He asked, looking up again. Cindy didn't bother pulling her attention from the machine, still tugging and rearranging wires.

"Shoot." She said. Jimmy took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but he was interrupted when his cellphone started ringing in his pocket. He quickly tugged it out and saw 'Sheen' flashing on the screen.

"Yes?"

"We're coming over, put your clothes back on." Jimmy could hear the smirk in Sheen's voice.

"They were never-" Jimmy started to argue, but sighed and gave up instead. "Yeah, whatever. We're decent." He hung up and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

"Who was that?" Cindy asked twisting another two wires together, ponytail sagging on top of her head.

"Sheen. He and Libby are coming over." Jimmy said, turning back to the motherboard again, having lost his nerve. He was sure he would work it back up. Eventually. Maybe.

"Finally. What did you want to ask me?" Cindy asked, putting a cap on the newly fused wires.

"Hm? Oh, I forget." Jimmy waved her off and shook his head. "So what dress did you end up getting?"

"I'm not telling." She said with a smirk. "You'll just have to see on prom night."

"That's not fair." Jimmy smiled up at her, thinking of the pictures in his head. He liked the green for the cutouts around her abdomen that showed off her beautiful skin, and he liked the blue because it made her look like the princess she was, but the pink brought out every beautiful feature of her face and still kept her modest. "But you'd look pretty in any of them.

"Well thank you." Cindy blushed and looked back down at her work. "But I will tell you Libby's is red. Looks really pretty."

"Libby's always looked nice in reds and pinks." Jimmy nodded, twisting a transistor between his fingers.

"And we have to figure out nail and hair plans too. That'll take a bit. Should I go up or down?" She asked, pausing to tighten her pony tail. "And should I do solid color for my nails or like I have this silver glitter that's really cool."

"I love your hair up. And I don't know, I don't know which dress you like, so I don't know which nail polish will match." He smirked at her teasingly.

"Could I practice on you?"

"I don't think my hair is long enough for you to put up." He laughed.

"No, nails. I think I know what I want to do with Libby's nails, and I wanted to practice." Cindy shrugged.

"Can't you practice on Libby?"

"I could, but where's the fun in that." It was Cindy's turn to smirk. The two laughed for a moment before they heard the subject of their conversation entering the lab.

"Hey, guys." Jimmy greeted.

"Hey, Jimmy. Whatcha working on?" Sheen asked, his arm slung around Libby's shoulders and his other hand stuffed in his pocket.

"Teleporter. Actually, I think this is all set. You set, Cin?" Jimmy asked, standing up. Cindy nodded and stepped back so he could install the motherboard.

"Grab one of those apples and put it in the teleporter, would you?" He asked, leaning into the electrical panel to secure it into place. Cindy nodded again and did as she was asked, setting the fruit in the machine. "Alright, flip the switch." Jimmy said, stepping back around it to watch. The light inside it glowed as it started teleporting.

He ran over to the other unit to watch as the apple reappeared, not in a pile of mush this time.

The skin was missing, however.

"It's not applesauce!" He called to Cindy.

"How did it peel it?" She asked, jogging over to meet him.

"I have no idea, but it's not totally mush so I'll count it as progress. Thanks for the help Vortex." He said, pulling the goggles off of his head and setting them on his desk.

"No problem, Nerdtron." Cindy smiled at him once more before shedding her lab coat and tossing it on one of the stools. "No word from Carl?"

"Not yet." Libby shook her head. "He's so cute with Elke."

"What, all that mushy bull about being better now that she's here? Gag." Sheen scoffed. Libby crossed her arms and glared at him.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to take a lesson from him. Be more romantic with your words." Libby said, stepping out from under his arm and joining Cindy over by the work bench.

"Yeah, sometimes girls like to hear mushy, romantic stuff like that." Cindy said as she hopped up to sit on the bench. Libby leaned against it beside her.

"Oh right, sure." Sheen reached out and grabbed Jimmy by his lab coat and pulling him closer. "You are the wind beneath my wings. My life would be incomplete without you. I couldn't live without you." He said in a false, deep voice.

"My prince charming, take me now." Jimmy said in a high pitched imitation of a girl's voice. Sheen let go of his jacket and the two of them high fived.

"Well gosh, Cin, I guess they showed us." Libby laughed, glancing up at her best friend with a smirk.

"Well they sure did, Libs. How about we dump these guys and go make out in the other room and not let them watch?" Cindy asked, hopping off of the desk.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a sec." Sheen protested.

"This is my lab, I'm allowed to watch." Jimmy said. Cindy shot him disgusted glare. "Sorry."

"Men are such pigs." Libby laughed and rolled her eyes. "All you two can think about is sex."

"That's not true, I think about a lot more intellectual things than sex for the majority of my time." Jimmy defended, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, that's pretty much all I think about." Sheen nodded. "But it's so hard not to when I have the most beautiful girl in the world." He reached out his arms towards Libby, who smiled widely and walked over to welcome his embrace.

"Alright, I guess in your own way, that was romantic, Papí." She said, cuddling into his chest.

"Are you expecting me to say something mushy and romantic too?" Jimmy asked, raising a bored eyebrow at Cindy. She laughed and shook her head.

"Not on your life, Geekoid." She said. Jimmy smiled at her.

They both knew that he thought all of those things about her. But they were so used to hiding that side of them, it didn't seem natural to call her beautiful and perfect in front of people. She knew she was to him.

"Are you two done having eye sex? Can we move on?" Sheen asked, interrupting them.

"You have a very big mouth." Jimmy turned his glare to his friend.

"All the better to-"

"Do not finish that sentence." Jimmy said, holding up a hand to silence Sheen. Libby giggled under his arm. "I should probably work on this teleporter more. If I can get it working properly, I can put one here in the lab and one in my room so my mom will stop yelling at me for sleeping in the lab too much."

"You could put one in Cindy's room so you two can have a quickie whenever you want." Sheen suggested as he settled down on the couch.

"And what would my mom say when she saw a giant machine in my room?" Cindy asked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at Sheen, who only offered her a grin. She glanced back at a silent Jimmy. "You're not actually considering this, are you?"

"Well not with these, no. But once this is solidified, I was planning on working on making it small enough and powerful enough to teleport anywhere with just a dime sized contraption." Jimmy said, leaning over to fiddle with the machine again. He jumped back though when a wire shocked him.

"I am not testing out your teleporter. I'll end up in Croatia." Cindy scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall.

"I wouldn't teleport you until it's deemed safe and working properly." Jimmy rolled his eyes as he switched the power off before diving back into the control panel. "And that's still a ways away. One step at a time."

"Can I try it?" Sheen asked, sitting up straight.

"No." The three other teens chimed. Sheen sat back with a pout.

"I'd rather not have you skinned in my lab." Jimmy rolled his eyes again and threw a fond smile at Sheen. "You can get me a new apple though."

Sheen hopped up from the couch just as Vox spoke overhead.

"You have a visitor." The mechanical voice said. Jimmy glanced at his monitor and saw Carl and Elke standing hand in hand at the door. Jimmy sighed and hit the button to unlock the door.

"Come in guys." He said into the intercom. He listened as the door opened and the heavy footsteps made their way down the ladder.

"Hey guys." Carl waved with a smile on his face.

"Hi, Carl." Sheen waved as he stepped away from the fridge with a half-eaten apple. Jimmy blinked at him for a moment.

"Sheen, I needed that for science."

"Oh yeah." Sheen looked at his apple for a moment before holding it out to his friend. Jimmy scrunched up his nose.

"I don't want your germ filled apple now." He leaned away from the offending fruit.

"It's just an apple, Jim. You swap spit with Cindy all the time." Sheen pointed out.

"I know where Cindy's mouth has been." Jimmy explained. He was about to just get a new apple himself when his mom appeared on his monitor.

"James Isaac Neutron!" She shouted, arms crossed.

"Yeah, Mom?" He asked. He couldn't remember the last thing he did to piss her off but he must have done something.

"Could you please explain to me why I found this in your pants pocket while I was doing laundry?" She asked, holding up a familiar foil packet. Jimmy's heart sank. He blinked for a moment before he tried to speak.

"I, uh-"

"I gave it to him, Mrs. Neutron." Jimmy turned when he felt Sheen's hand on his shoulder. "It was more of a just in case thing."

"Sheen, is your father aware you have these?" Mrs. Neutron asked.

"Yes ma'am. And Libby's mom is too." Sheen nodded. Jimmy couldn't believe how calm his friend was talking about this with his mom.

"James, you're not having sex, correct?" Judy asked, turning her glare back to her son.

"Of course not, Mom. I'm not even dating anyone." He didn't dare look at Cindy. He was sure she was just as shocked as he was.

"Then you're okay if I throw this out?"

"That's fine, Mom. Sorry, I should have remembered to throw it out myself." Jimmy nodded and hopped that would be the end of it.

"Very well, then. Sheen, Libby, I hope you two are being liberal with these." Judy said before she signed off and the screen went dark.

"Oh my god." Cindy sighed in relief. Jimmy finally turned to look at her and saw her face was much paler than normal. He worried she would pass out.

"That was close." Jimmy shook his head as he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and tossed it to Libby. She handed it to her best friend. "I owe you, Sheen." He reached out and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't mention it, Jim. Thought you were going to puke all over the place." Sheen shrugged. "I don't care if your mom knows about Libby and me. Our parents know anyways."

"How could you tell your parents? I could never talk to my mom about that sort of thing." Cindy shook her head and took another swig of the water. She flopped back onto the back of the couch, still feeling her pulse drumming in her ears.

"I just told my dad I needed condoms. He didn't make a big deal out of it, just said he was glad I was making the decision to be safe." Sheen shrugged again, turning back to look at Libby. She was leaning back against the arm of the couch.

"I just told my mom that I wanted to be put on birth control. She said she's happier I came to her instead of sneaking around." Libby explained.

Jimmy glanced at Cindy again. She was giving him a disbelieving look. He knew that neither of them really talked to their parents about sex, and that Cindy had never even had a proper sex talk. His dad had tried to once, but he told Hugh that he knew everything he needed to know and not to bother. Both Neutrons had been relieved at that.

"Carl, you did not tell me your friends were dating." Elke said, glancing back and forth between the couch and the desk.

"Sheen and Libby? Sure I did. They've been dating for forever." Carl shrugged and squeezed her hand, but the blond girl shook her head.

"No. Jimmy and Cindy." She said, pointing to the two of them. Jimmy's jaw went slack and Cindy's eyes widened.

"No, we're not-"

"We're just-"

"They're not actually dating, Elke." Carl shook his head, interrupting the other two teens, who each blushed in turn. "They're just really good friends."

"My mistake, I'm sorry. The way you two behave with each other seemed very much like a couple." She said.

"It's uh, it's fine. So hey, we thought it should be up to you to decide what we do today." Jimmy said, turning his gaze to Elke and Carl. The girl perked up at that.

"I'd love to do something American. It has been a few years since my last visit." Elke brightened suddenly, looking over at Carl instead of Jimmy.

"So fried foods and lighting stuff on fire? I'm down for that." Sheen said, making his way to the couch to cuddle with Libby. Cindy fake-gagged and got up to sit on a desk stool instead.

"No one is lighting anything on fire. Not after the last time you lost your eyebrows and almost sent Carl to the emergency room." Jimmy said sternly. Sheen was a bit of a pyromaniac at times and it had gotten them all in trouble once or twice.

"Why don't we go to Retroland? There's a ton of fried foods there and Sheen will be too distracted to set anything on fire." Cindy suggested, leaning forward on the stool and trying to get Jimmy's attention. It worked when he turned to stare at her, nodding in agreement.

"If we're going to Retroland I need to get a jacket. It gets cold there at night." Libby said, rubbing her bare arms.

"And I'll need my other inhaler for excitement. Meet back in ten?" Carl asked. Everyone nodded in agreement before splitting off, Cindy at the tail end of the pack.

"Hey, Cin?" Jimmy asked, reaching out to grab her hand, but coming up short. Everyone turned to look at them instead of continuing to leave. "You left your white hoodie here the other day, if you want that one."

"I was wondering where I put that." She mumbled to herself. "Is it in the closet?"

"Yeah, I hung it up." Jimmy said, then turned back towards his experiment to start shutting the lab down, which seemed to satisfy his friends enough for them all to leave, sans Cindy. Once he heard the door shut upstairs, he shut down the main computer and turned to the blond shrugging into her jacket.

"That's not why you stopped me." She said, zipping up the hoodie and focusing on her hands instead of the boy staring at her. She felt the weight of his gaze and blushed.

"Partly. But the other part was for this." He strode over to her and kissed her gently, sweeping her into his arms. "Sorry my mom scared you."

"I'd say it's not your fault but it kind of is." Cindy shrugged, pulling Jimmy by his shirt back to the couch. She leaned down to unfold it but was stopped by a hand on her hip.

"Leave it closed." He shrugged and smirked. Before she could say anything, he was moving to lay down.

"What are we doing?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as he undid his pants.

"Something not boring." He said, reaching out to grab her by the hoodie pockets and pull her down on top of him. "But quickly."

"Sounds good to me." She said, straddling him properly. She leaned down to kiss him, her tongue shoving into his mouth and her hand pushing down into his pants to rub at him softly. He moaned at the sudden contact.

Jimmy unzipped her hoodie, but didn't push it off of her arms, instead using the new access to pull her tank top down far enough to get his mouth down around one of her nipples. She gasped at the feeling, sitting back on his lap so he could sit up and get a better angle.

She continued to play with his quickly hardening member for another minute before she pushed his head back from her chest. He took a few deep breaths, surveying her reddened nipples as well as the few red patches across her breasts that would surly turn purple soon.

"I'm ready." She said, moving to undo the button on her white shorts. Jimmy blinked for a moment.

"Really?" He asked, looking her up and down. She didn't answer, just got up to drop her bottoms then climbed back on top of him. She pulled his jeans and underwear down just enough to free his cock. Jimmy fumbled behind himself for the drawer they kept the condoms in for a moment before he was able to grasp one and put it on.

Cindy impatiently sank herself down onto him, sighing in relief when she was settled. Jimmy laid back and grabbed her hips to help guide her up and down. He tried to meet her thrusts by lifting his hips.

She fell forward onto his chest, a loud moan escaping her before she propped herself up on her arms and kissed him sloppily. Jimmy groaned as he took over the majority of the moving, thrusting his hips up into her, feeling her clench around him rhythmically. She pulled back, panting with her release.

He felt his building at the base of his spine, the coils of pleasure so tight he thought he would see stars.

And he did.

He came harder than he had in a while, tossing his head back against the arm of the couch. It took him a minute to see clearly again, but when he did, Cindy was propped up on her arms, looking down at him.

"That was incredible." He mumbled, leaning up to give her a soft kiss.

"It really was." She smiled lazily and flopped back down on his chest. "Let's skip retro land, let's just stay here." She mumbled.

"We can stay here all night, if you want." Jimmy laughed, propping himself up on his elbows. "After Retroland."

"I don't want to get up." Cindy laughed back, moving to get off of Jimmy's lap. He watched her while she shimmied back into her clothes, hair swishing around her head. "You're staring at me."

"Sorry, just," Jimmy shook his head and blinked. Now or never. "Hey Cin?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you-"

"Jimmy! Open up! We're ready to go!" The pair turned to see Sheen's face on the security camera, fist pounding on the door.

"Hold that thought. You have to drive." Cindy said as she got into her bra.

* * *

"Whoa!" Elke exclaimed as they stepped up to the roller coaster. "I've never been to an amusement park before. This is huge!" She said, standing on her toes and pointing to the highest hill.

Carl followed her gaze, eyes widening. He pulled his inhaler out of his pocket and took a puff of it.

"This one's pretty new." Sheen said, stepping up to Elke's other side. He pointed up to the hill, mimicking her stance. "That drop is a 95 degree drop. Steepest there is."

Carl inhaled another puff from his inhaler.

"Sheen's been dying to ride it since it opened." Libby said, leaning forward to talk to Elke directly. "Do you think you can handle it?"

"That sounds like fun! Can we go, Carl?" Elke asked, latching onto his arm. Carl's eyes widened again.

"Uh, maybe I should sit this one out, guys." He shook his head and took a step back. "I don't think I can do that."

"You sure, Carl?" Jimmy asked, finally speaking up. He was standing back, playing with Cindy's hair. He wasn't quite sure when it happened, but at some point he discovered how much she liked having her hair played with, and eventually taught him how to braid. He took the left braid and pushed it over her shoulder before moving to the right braid.

"Yeah, go ahead without me. Sorry, Elke, I don't do well on really big rides." Carl said, rubbing the back of his neck and flushing red.

"It's alright. I will tell you how it is." She said, leaning over to kiss his cheek before rushing over to Libby and taking her other hand to pull her along.

"All set. Let's go join them." Jimmy said, letting the right braid fall over Cindy's shoulder. The girl felt the end of it before nodding and following after their friends. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah. Just don't want to start her visit off with one of my panic attacks. Or asthma attacks. Or allergy attacks." Carl said as he settled down on a nearby bench. "You guys have fun."

"See you after the ride." Jimmy ran to catch his friends, getting in line behind them. The line wasn't long, but long enough to have to wait for the ride to run two other groups of people before they got to the front.

"I call back!" Sheen shouted, running for the very last car with Libby and Elke following behind him. Jimmy smiled and shook his head.

"Lady's choice." He motioned to the line of cars. Cindy smiled and stepped up to the one in front of Sheen. The attendant closed the harnesses over them. "Ready for this?"

"This is going to rock!" Sheen shouted behind them. The two of them turned to look back at the trio. Sheen was a big thrill seeker, and Libby always happily obliged to make him happy, and she sometimes enjoyed a thrill too.

"This is exciting. I've never been on a roller coaster before." Elke said with a big smile.

"What?!" The four of them turned to face her as the ride started moving. Cindy moved her hand over to grasp at Jimmy's, and he accepted it, squeezing her hand gently. Sheen and Libby's chatter drown out most of the other noise.

"Hey, Cin, I've been trying to ask you something." Jimmy said as they started ascending the hill.

"What is it, Jimmy?" She asked, turning to look at him.

"This is going to be epic! Think they have that thing that takes your picture on the ride?" Sheen asked, trying to lean forward.

"I'm sure they do. Carl will probably see it before we get off." Jimmy sighed, turning as much as he could, but he couldn't see his friends.

"What did you want to ask me?" Cindy asked, squeezing his hand.

"Nothing, it can wait. We're almost at the top." Jimmy shook his head and tried to sink in his seat, but the harness prevented much movement. He had tried three times and had gotten interrupted enough to chicken out of asking her.

As the top of the hill came into view, Cindy squeezed his hand tighter. He heard Elke's excited squeals behind him.

The cars finally started over the hill and the front of the line pulled the back cars faster with them. Jimmy felt his stomach drop and Cindy gripped his hand tighter.

Libby behind them screamed while Sheen laughed.

* * *

"How was it?" Carl asked, getting up from his seat. Elke ran over to him and embraced him in a tight hug, his face turning a dark scarlet.

"It was incredible! Thank you so much for bringing me here." She said, kissing his cheek. Carl blushed darker.

"Can we go again?" Sheen asked, looking down at Libby.

"Maybe later, Papí." She said with a smile.

"Why don't we go hit more rides? Maybe some Carl can ride?" Jimmy asked, motioning to the rest of the park. "Maybe the bumble bees or the haunted roller coaster."

"I can handle the Egyptian pyramid ride." Carl shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. Elke grabbed his arm and hung off of it.

"That sounds like fun!" She exclaimed.

"Let's do that then." Libby said, taking the lead. "You both good with that?"

"Yeah, that sounds fine." Cindy nodded, reaching up to undo her braids. "But let's get some food after that, I'm starved."

"If we're getting food, I vote we hit the arcade too." Sheen said, twisting around to smile at Carl and Jimmy. "I heard they got the new Ultra Lord game and I'm stoked."

"I'm game." Jimmy nodded.

The group nearly ran to the almost empty line, bouncing in place as they waited. Elke was pointing to all the other rides asking Carl what they were and marveling at them. Sheen and Libby were whispering and giggling to each other, getting closer together.

Jimmy looked down at Cindy, who was toying with her hair out of habit. He glanced around quickly to make sure no one was looking before he kissed the crown of her head. She looked up at him with wide eyes, hands pausing their fiddling. He shrugged and threw his arm around her shoulders.

**AN: Sorry this took so long guys. I know you're all waiting patiently, but life happens. For the last semester, I had classes five days a week as well as working five days a week, so I had very little time to do much of anything. I have every intention of finishing this, not sure how long it will end up being, but we're getting there slowly but surely. Prom will be the next chapter, but during the summer I work 6 days a week, so I just want to say it won't be quick, try as I might. I've gotten many messages about it. I love this story, and I absolutely do, but you have to understand I have to earn a living and finish my schooling too. **


	10. Chapter 10

"How does this dress look?" Elke asked, stepping out of the dressing room in a tight, pale yellow dress. The bodice hugged her curves, and the cut outs showed off her porcelain skin.

"It looks nice, but I still like the white one." Libby said, watching the blond twirl in front of the mirrors.

"Maybe try the pink one?" Cindy asked, pursing her lips. She had always envied the girl because she seemed to be so effortlessly beautiful. Her hair had fallen in perfect golden waves down to just below her breasts, with not much more than a brush running through it.

"Good idea." Elke nodded and retreated back into the dressing room.

"So did anyone ask you?" Libby asked, barely looking up from her phone. Cindy knew her best friend and Sheen were in a heated argument because he wanted to wear converse to prom and Libby was not allowing it.

"No, but I don't really care. I don't need a date." Cindy shrugged a shoulder and reached for her grey cardigan, slipping it over her bare arms. It was hot outside, but a blue tank top was not enough to keep her warm in the cold mall.

"You sure? I bet I could get one of the guys from choir to ask you." Libby said, finally looking up at her friend, her hair flaring around as she moved. "I'm sure someone-"

"Nah. I'll worry about a date my senior year. Besides, there are six of us. Jimmy is going stag too." Cindy shrugged and checked her phone. She had a text waiting from her mom asking if she would be home for dinner. She texted back a quick no.

She and Jimmy were hanging out.

"I don't know if he is, Cin." Libby said with a huff. She set her phone down, probably trying to ignore the situation. She figured Carl or Jimmy would talk Sheen out of his stubbornness. "Sheen told me he wants to ask someone."

"What? Who?" Cindy asked, fingers freezing above her phone. She was about to text Jimmy and ask if he wanted Chinese for dinner.

"I don't know. Sheen just said he's thinking of asking someone." Libby shrugged and stuck her hands between her knees. Elke reemerged from the dressing room in a poofy, blush colored dress, looking every bit like sleeping beauty.

"I think it's too close to yours, Cin." Libby mumbled.

"Yeah, I think I agree with Libby, the white looked so pretty on you." Cindy said, giving the dress a once over. It looked a bit too long for the girl.

"I'll put that one on once more." Elke said, scowling at her reflection. Something about the dress just didn't suit her.

"Elke, did Carl tell you who Jimmy wants to ask to prom?" Libby asked, perking up with the idea that maybe the third girl knew.

"He didn't tell me that Jimmy wanted to ask anyone. He told me someone wants to ask you though, Cindy." Elke said, pointing to the other blond.

"What? Really?" Cindy asked, sitting up straight. She hadn't thought anyone would ask her at all. She wasn't nearly as popular as Libby.

"Yeah. That's all he said, though. He didn't say who it was." Elke said, twirling back towards the dressing room.

"Wow, Cin. Maybe you'll get a date after all." Libby said, elbowing her with a smile. "I bet it's Michael."

"I bet it's not." Cindy shook her head and grimaced. She had hoped she could just go by herself in all honesty. She figured Jimmy was going to have a date, she should too.

* * *

"Sheen, you can't wear those shoes. Libby will dump you." Jimmy said, changing the channel on the television. Sheen had his feet crossed on the coffee table, his worn red converse on his feet. "And get your feet off of my mother's table."

Sheen groaned but let his feet fall to the floor anyways. He slouched further in his seat and crossed his arms.

"She can't tell me what to do. I can wear whatever shoes I want." Sheen grumbled. He felt his phone vibrate against his leg, but he ignored it. He knew it was Libby.

"She's your girlfriend. She can tell you what shoes to wear. It's her job to make sure you don't look stupid." Jimmy said, tossing the remote onto the couch beside him. Cartoons would have to do.

"Why do I have to do what she says? I'm an adult, I'm 18-"

"Barely."

"I should be able to do whatever I want." Sheen said, sitting up straight and turning to his friend. Jimmy sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Relationships are about compromise, Sheen. Prom is really important to girls. You should wear nice shoes because looking nice would mean a lot to her." Jimmy explained with a sigh. He had listened to Sheen drone on about their stupid little spat, just like every other time.

"How would you know? You've never dated anyone before." Sheen scoffed, moving back to his slouch. And re-crossing his arms. "You can't even ask a girl out."

"It's not for lack of trying. Every time I get up the nerve, you guys interrupt us. We're both going stag, anyways. We'll probably be stuck to each other all night out of default." Jimmy said, picking his phone as it vibrated against the coffee table.

Cindy wanted to know if he wanted Chinese for dinner. That actually sounded really good. He sent her back a quick 'yes' and let his phone flop beside him on the couch. He saw Sheen pick up his phone finally out of the corner of his eye.

"Uh, maybe not, Jim." Sheen said, scanning the text. "Libby just told me someone else is planning to ask Cindy to prom."

"What? Who?" Jimmy sat up straight, knocking the phone and remote to the floor in his haste.

"She doesn't know. You need to make your move, Jimmy." Sheen said, locking his phone again. He still wasn't too keen on his girlfriend at the moment.

"I'll ask her tonight. We're hanging out here tonight." Jimmy shrugged and reached for his phone on the floor. He hoped he wasn't too late.

"What about black converse?" Sheen asked.

"Sheen. No sneakers." Jimmy said sternly. He had just sat back up straight when the front door opened and Carl waddled his way in, inhaler in his hand.

"What's up, Carl?" Sheen asked, looking at the red inhaler and Carl's similarly shaded face.

"Elke sent me a picture of the dress she bought." Carl said, holding his phone out to show his friends. The dress was long, white, and trimmed around the plunging neck line and the diamond shaped cutouts on the sides with silver beading. It flowed around her legs fluidly down to the floor.

"That's really pretty." Jimmy said, nodding in approval.

"She's got a nice rack. I'd be breathing heavy too." Sheen said, nodding as well. Jimmy smacked his friend in the arm, earning a small 'the hell, man?' before settling back into annoyed silence.

"She's so pretty. I bet she's got a bunch of guys throwing themselves at her back home." Carl lamented, flopping down in the chair.

"Yeah, probably, but she chose you. Don't worry about it." Sheen shrugged and stopped rubbing his arm.

"What Sheen means is that she's loyal and she really loves you." Jimmy corrected, scowling at the tallest boy, who went back to his phone.

"Where are your parents?" Carl asked, noticing a lack of duck noises and the smell of pie.

"Wedding. They won't be back until tomorrow." Jimmy said, turning the tv off and getting up to turn on the gaming system instead.

"Why? You feel like flirting with Judy?" Sheen asked with a smirk. He always teased Carl about his childhood crush.

"Shut up, Sheen." Carl said, his face flushing deeper.

* * *

They boys were in a heated game of Mario cart when the front door opened. Jimmy was catching up to Sheen, almost in the lead. Carl was bringing up the rear, trying to avoid the banana peels and failing miserably.

"Hey, Boys." Libby greeted as she kicked her shoes off at the door. She got back a chorus of monotone 'Hey's back, but their eyes never left the screen. She scowled.

"What are they doing?" Elke asked, straining her neck and trying to watch the cars on the screen.

"Playing Mario Cart. It's what teenage boys do." Cindy explained, walking past both the girls and around the coffee table in front of the TV, earning her a few shouts of displeasure, and flopping down on the arm of the couch by Jimmy. "Sheen winning?"

"Not for long." Jimmy said, incredibly focused on the game. They were nearing the finish, and Jimmy just barely passed Sheen in time. He threw his hands up in victory while Sheen scowled in defeat.

"Jack ass." Sheen grumbled.

"Guys, where am I?" Carl asked, trying to get his car to at least finish the race.

"You're going backwards, Dude." Sheen said, eyebrows raising. He hadn't been watching Carl's screen at all and was surprised to see how far behind he was.

"How was dress shopping?" Jimmy asked, turning finally to the girl beside him.

"Fine. I called the Chinese place, they said it'll be here in an hour." She said, leaning onto him with and elbow propped on his shoulder.

"Awesome, thanks for that." Jimmy said, reaching up to touch her arm for a moment before going back to their game.

"Hey, Cin, check this out." Libby leaned over her boyfriend's lap and Jimmy's lap to show her phone to her best friend. "Think you can do this?"

Cindy eyed the screen that showed a red and silver nail design and nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. It'll look nice with your dress." She said as Libby crawled her way back to her seat at the other end of the couch.

"You know what else would look nice with your dress?" Sheen asked.

"No converse!" Jimmy and Libby shouted at him. They glanced at each other for a moment then Libby offered a small smile.

"Fine. Whatever, I'll wear stupid dress shoes." Sheen growled, crossing his arms again.

"Carl give me the controller, let's play teams." Cindy said, reaching for the boy sitting on the floor between his friends. He wordlessly handed it over to her. "Girls versus guys, 3 races, we each compete, let's do it."

"Bossy." Sheen mumbled. Jimmy smacked him upside the head.

* * *

After the girls won their tournament, Sheen and Libby decided to take their competition to Libby's basement. Carl and Elke retreated back to his house for dinner, soy burgers, which sounded disgusting to everyone else.

Cindy was digging into her rice while Jimmy tried to find something on television. The movies on a Sunday night were always boring, but he found a musical he knew Cindy loved.

"Are you trying to butter me up for something?" She asked, suddenly finding herself bopping along to summer lovin'.

"Nope. But I know you love Grease. So do I get to see your dress yet?" Jimmy asked, picking up his lo mein.

"No way. You have to wait until Prom to see it." Cindy scoffed, trying to use her chopsticks and eventually giving up and picking up a fork.

"How will I know what to wear?" Jimmy asked with a laugh.

"Wear whatever you want, I don't care." She shrugged. "Don't you have to match whoever you ask?"

"Well, I mean, yeah. But I'd have to know your color first." He said brows knit in confusion, picking up a takeout container.

"Why? If you end up wearing that color too I'll punch you." Cindy said, raising her eyebrows.

"Well fine then. I'll just wear whatever." Jimmy leaned back into the corner of the couch and focused on the television.

* * *

After a week of general irritation with each other, Cindy was sourly doing Libby's hair in her bedroom. No one had asked her, and Jimmy had asked no one. Yet for some reason, they still weren't talking much.

"Easy with those pins, Girl. You're stabbing my head." Libby said, reaching up to ease the pain in the back of her head.

"Sorry, Libs. So who was it that Jimmy wanted to ask? He never said anything." Cindy asked, picking up another bobby pin for Libby's hair. Her curls were pinned in a loose up-do, still bouncing mostly free.

"I have no idea. I saw him talking to Nissa the other day. Maybe he asked her." Libby shrugged and sighed. All Cindy had talked about all week was Jimmy, both in good and bad contexts. "You so love him."

"I do not." Cindy shook her head and rolled her eyes. They hadn't talked about that word, she would much rather sweep his feelings under the rug. If he didn't want to love her, that was fine, she didn't want to love him either.

"You do too. Why didn't you just ask him to prom? He so would have said yes."

"Because I don't need a date, I'm fine going alone." Cindy shrugged, putting a final pin in Libby's hair. The girl stood up and they switched places. Libby's button-up – which actually was Sheen's – hung down low enough to nearly cover her shorts, and the big sleeves were rolled up to her elbows.

"What do you want me to do?" Libby asked, picking up the straighter.

"Up." Cindy decided, not remembering how Jimmy liked her hair until it was done.

* * *

"How do you tie these things?" Sheen asked, trying to tie his tie, and only succeeding in tying a bow. "I don't get why I have to wear it."

"Because it's a formal dance, Sheen. Lemme see." Jimmy held out his hand, and Sheen passed him the red silk tie. The shorter boy slipped it around his own neck and tied it effortlessly, then loosened it and passed it to Sheen.

"Thanks." Sheen mumbled looking in the bathroom mirror. He didn't look too bad, he decided. He looked over to the other sink at Jimmy who was trying to style his hair.

"Does this look stupid?"

"No stupider than normal." Sheen shrugged, ignoring his friend's glare. "When's Carl going to be here?"

"He said he would be over after they had lunch. Elke was showing up to Cindy's to get ready a little late." Jimmy shrugged, fumbling with his own tie.

"Still can't believe you chickened out." Sheen shook his head as he adjusted his collar. "You totally love her, dude."

"I do not. And she didn't want to go with me. She probably wanted to go with whoever else was going to ask her." Jimmy took a deep breath and focused on his tie. He wasn't the happiest person in the world without talking to Cindy, and the frustration was starting to get to him.

"You so do. Libby said no one asked her, I bet she would have gone with you." Sheen argued, fixing his hair in the mirror.

"Jimmy! Carl is here!" The two turned at the sound of Judy's voice from downstairs, and then heard the heavy footsteps of their friend coming up the stairs.

"Hey guys." Carl said as he poked his head into the bedroom. He was dressed in his dress shirt and pants, but was carrying an armful of other parts of his tux.

"Hey, Carl." Jimmy waved, catching a glimpse of him in the mirror. "How are the girls doing?"

"Libby told me to tell you dress shoes." Carl said as he stepped up beside Sheen. "And she looks really pretty."

"I'm wearing the stupid dress shoes, what more does she want?" Sheen asked, looking down at the offending shoes on his feet.

"Just let it go, Sheen." Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"And Cindy looks really pretty too, Jim." Carl put a hand on his best friend's shoulder, and Jimmy paused his fiddling with his clothing.

"I didn't ask." He said, trying to refocus on his nitpicking.

"It's not too late to ask her." Carl pointed out. Jimmy looked up and locked eyes with him. "She's going alone, Jim."

"Look, we're not going together, I don't get why that's so hard for you two to accept. She didn't want to go with me. We're not madly in love with each other, we're just," Jimmy paused, taking a deep breath. "I don't know what we are." He shook his head and looked back down to unbutton and rebutton his shirt.

"Fine, be in denial." Carl shrugged and looped his tie around his neck. "At least try to have fun tonight? You two being miserable is going to drag down the night."

"I'm not in denial and we'll have fun. At least I will." Jimmy grumbled, deciding he could spend some time in his room with his belt and shoes.

* * *

"You look nice, Jimmy." Libby greeted, holding up the skirt of her dress as she walked. He smiled softly at her, ignoring the fact that he knew Cindy wouldn't be far behind. "I like the blue."

"Thanks, Libby. You look very pretty." He motioned down to the billowing skirt around her legs.

"Thank you. Hey, you don't have a date right?" She asked, looking back over her shoulder where Elke was greeting Sheen and Carl.

"No, I didn't ask anyone."

"Give this to Cindy. She's kinda down that no one asked her. Just pretend you got it for her." Libby pulled a plastic box out of her purse and shoved it into his hand discretely.

"A corsage? Libby, we're not going together-"

"I know that, but you don't want her to be the odd one out, do you?" She asked, glancing back again. Jimmy caught sight of Cindy over her shoulder.

She was wearing the pink dress, the skirt not as poofy as Libby's, but still flowing out around her legs, and beautiful beading on the skirt. The sweetheart neckline and lack of straps accented her thin frame and showed off her pale shoulders in a beautiful way.

"No, I don't. I'll give it to her." Jimmy nodded and swallowed.

* * *

"You two look very pretty." Carl said as Elke and Cindy approached. He grabbed both of Elke's hands and pulled her close enough to kiss her cheek.

"Thanks, Carl. You both look handsome, as well." Cindy said, reaching out to fix Sheen's shirt collar and smooth out the jacket. He took her hand and kissed it.

"Gracias, Bonita." He said. "Hey, can we ask you to do something?" Sheen asked, reaching into his jacket pocket.

"Depends on what it is." She eyed him suspiciously.

"Could you give this to Jimmy? We felt bad that he would be the odd one out, but it'd be weird if we gave it to him." Sheen pushed a plastic box into her hand and let her look at it.

"A boutonniere? Sheen, he's not my date-"

"I know, but come on. You don't want him to be to odd one out, do you?" Sheen nodded towards his friend, who was talking quietly with Libby across the yard. He nodded at something and she hugged him, which he returned with a solemn look on his face.

"No, I don't. Give me the stupid thing." Cindy sighed and took the flowers out of their plastic. "You don't get to ask me for any more favors."

"Deal. Here they come." Sheen nodded again and pointed at Jimmy and Libby as they made their way across the yard. "You look gorgeous, Libs."

"Well thank you. You look pretty fine yourself, Papi." Libby smiled as she leaned in to give Sheen a kiss. "I think that's our limo. Let's go talk to the driver." The pair laced their fingers and headed off towards the street with Carl and Elke in tow, leaving the non-couple standing awkwardly together.

"Hey, uh, I know you're going stag and all that but, well, I got you something." Jimmy spoke up, holding out the box Libby gave him.

"Oh, I uh, I got you something too." Cindy accepted the box and held up the little flowers in her hand. It was then that she noticed her corsage was full of blue ribbon that matched Jimmy's tux and Jimmy's boutonniere matched her dress.

"You look really beautiful, Cindy." Jimmy sighed, looking down at her. She smiled softly and reached up to pin the flowers on his jacket.

"Well, this is the dress you picked. As much as I don't want to admit it, you always know what looks best on me." Cindy said with a tight smile. They both turned when they heard a camera shutter and saw Judy and Libby standing there, both smiling.

* * *

The prom was nothing spectacular, at least to Jimmy's standards. The music was loud and crude, and the dancing looked more like fornicating on the dance floor. They had danced as a group during all of the faster songs, but once the first slow song hit, he and Cindy retreated back to the table.

"They are so happy together." Cindy said, head resting in her hand and watching Carl stare at his feet while he and Elke danced. He wasn't a great dancer, but the girl didn't seem to mind. She was giggling and her blue eyes were alight.

"They really are. He's head over heels for her." Jimmy nodded and reached for his drink. "I'm really glad he found her. Sheen and I were worried he was going to be living with one of us for the rest of our lives." He laughed.

"So I thought you were going to ask someone." Cindy said, turning her attention to the boy sitting beside her. He finished his sip of soda and set it back down with a nod.

"I was going to but I got the feeling she didn't want to go with me." He shrugged, playing with his tie.

"Who was it?"

"I'm not going to tell you." Jimmy scoffed. The song ended and a faster one picked up. Sheen turned to Carl as the whole dance floor started jumping and they joined in enthusiastically. Libby took Elke's hands and started dancing and laughing with her while bumping her backside into Sheen's front occasionally. "Let's go dance with them."

Cindy scowled, but followed him anyways. She joined in with Libby and Elke, the three of them dancing in a circle with the guys around them. Sheen had his arm around his friend's shoulders as they bounced.

Everything was going fine until Cindy felt arms on her waist and someone grinding into her behind. She twisted and saw Keenan, one of their classmates, his mop of brown hair sticking to his forehead and reeking of alcohol.

"Get off before I kill you." She said, trying to shove away from him. She stumbled forward, tripping over her dress and catching herself on Libby.

"You should go, Dude." Sheen said, stepping in. "You're pretty drunk, you're gonna get thrown out."

"I'm fine. Just thought I could get some action." Keenan shrugged, leering at Cindy. She glared back.

"Either leave her alone or I'll make sure you get kicked out." Jimmy said, standing tall. He wasn't taller than Sheen, but he wasn't short either.

"Fine, whatever." Keenan scoffed and walked back towards the popular group where he had been. Jimmy turned to look at Cindy as the music changed again.

"You okay?" Libby asked, still holding onto Cindy's forearms.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cindy nodded. "Go dance." She pat her friends arm and she stepped away, reaching out for Sheen's hand.

"He's just a drunk jerk, Cindy. We'll make sure he doesn't do that again." Carl said, taking Elke into his arms for another slow dance.

"Thanks, Carl." Cindy nodded again, looking back at Jimmy, who was striding towards her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and giving her a once over.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little taken off guard." She shrugged and glanced around the dance floor. All the couples were swaying back and forth while those who had come alone were retreating back to the tables.

"Hey, Cin, I know we both came alone and stuff but uh, will you go to prom with me?" Jimmy asked, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing. Cindy watched him for a moment and laughed before speaking.

"Sure." She nodded and took his outstretched hand. "So you're really not going to tell me who you really wanted to ask?"

"Do you really want to know?" Jimmy asked with a small laugh.

"Yeah, I want to know what kind of girl you want to date." Cindy said, looking around at all of the couples dancing. Libby was content with her head on Sheen's chest, and Carl and Elke were whispering to each other and giggling.

"Okay I'll give you a few hints." Jimmy said, turning her slightly as they moved. "She's blond. She's a great singer. Not too tall-"

"Oh my gosh, it is Nissa."

"It's not Nissa." Jimmy laughed, rolling his eyes. He stared down at her beautiful jade orbs and smiled. "It's you. It's always been you."

"Really?" Cindy asked, her stomach fluttering with nerves.

"Yeah." Jimmy nodded and cleared his throat. "Cindy, I-I love you. And I don't want to stop, ever."

"Jimmy," she mumbled. "I love you, too." She whispered.

Suddenly, Sheen and Libby started cheering a few feet away. The two braniacs turned to look at them, and saw that they were encouraging the rest of the students to join them.

"They finally said they love each other, everyone!" Libby shouted.

"It's about damn time, Jim." Sheen said, and soon the whole room was cheering and clapping in a big circle around them. They turned to their other side and looked at Carl and Elke, who were clapping as well. Jimmy got a thumbs up from his best friend.

"Hey, hey, kiss!" Sheen shouted, then started chanting 'Kiss' and getting the rest of the students there to join him.

"I, uh, I think they want us to kiss." Jimmy whispered, looking back down at her.

"How long do you think they've all been thinking we should date?" Cindy asked, looking around at their classmates.

It wasn't a secret to anyone but themselves. The whole student body thought they should date. Jimmy and Cindy just went together like every other famous pair.

"Cin?" Jimmy asked, catching her attention again.

"Yeah, right." She laughed, looking down at his tie. He brought his hand up to her face and tilted it up, then leaned down and kissed her.

The crowd cheered louder.

"I guess they've been waiting for this." Cindy whispered as she pulled away.

"They're not the only ones." Jimmy whispered back, leaning in to kiss her again.

* * *

"Gosh, I love this. I love waking up next to you." Jimmy said as he curled tighter around Cindy's nude body.

"Well good morning to you too." Cindy laughed. "I love this too."

"And now that I've said it, I don't feel like stopping." Jimmy crawled over her, peppering kisses on her face and professing his love between them. Cindy giggled and pushed him without any force behind it.

"I love you too, Jimmy." Cindy mumbled, looking up at him.

"How about we have some awesome morning sex, then we can go meet up with our hungover friends?" Jimmy asked.

Sheen and Libby had dragged them to an after-party that they were invited to, and though Jimmy and Carl didn't drink, Sheen was throwing back shots like no tomorrow. Libby was sipping on a drink, but he was sure she didn't have nearly as much as Sheen.

Libby stayed at Sheen's that night, and Cindy in the lab.

"Sounds good to me, Babe." Cindy said, wrapping her arms around Jimmy's neck and giving him a deep kiss. She pushed her hips up, feeling his hardness trapped between them.

Jimmy gripped her hips and rolled them so she was laying on top, still kissing him. He flashed on the night before when they had barely gotten their clothes off fast enough. Her pinned to the couch, her dress hiked up around her waist and Jimmy with his pants open and tie undone, both moaning and screaming and saying they love each other over and over.

"I can't believe this still." He mumbled as she sat up and ran a hand through her hair that was now down and fell in pin-straight strands to her shoulders. It was a testament to how well Libby had done her hair.

"Me either." She shook her head. "Let me make it a little more believable." She smirked and reached for the box on the nightstand. She quickly slipped a condom over his cock and slid herself down on him.

"You alright?" He asked, grabbing her waist.

"Yeah. A little sore." She nodded, starting to move. "Got a little rough last night."

"Sorry about that," he laughed. "It had been a while."

They continued in silence, the only sounds being their panting breaths and Cindy's cries when she came. Jimmy flipped them quickly and slid back into her, moving in and out as quickly as he could until he was following her high.

"I love you." He whispered as they calmed down.

"I love you too, Dorkoid."

**AN: Hey guys, sorry this took so long, you all have to remember I have a full time job and I go to school full time, so I don't have a ton of free time. There will be an epilogue after this chapter, so don't worry it's not totally done, but this will be the final chapter in present day. I hope it was to your satisfaction!**


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